Standing Loyal
by Danyhg
Summary: DH fic, picks up from Ron's departure. Harry and Hermione are now alone and continue the search of the horcruxes. Along the way they might find what their real treasure is. A/N: Chapters are being corrected and fixed as requested :
1. A Matter of Choices

**_Ok so here goes my second story. I had wanted to write something like this for a very long time and I decided to give it a go. It comes from reading many fics involving this particular couple and this particular moment of the last book. I realize that it could had become a defining moment for both of them but we know Rowling decided to go for the standard. I hope I manage to write something decent but don't expect much, I'm not a pro so I'm mainly trying._**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own the rights of any book of the Harry Potter series or characters._**

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**Chapter 1 - A Matter of Choices**

_"Yes – yes, I'm staying. Ron, we said we'd go with Harry, we said we'd help"_

_"I get it. You choose him"_

**Deathly Hallows, Ch. 15 "The Goblin's Revenge"  
**

_You choose him. _It was a quiet night. Yet, so much had happened that night. He had left. Hermione stared at the spot where she had last seen him, hoping that maybe he would change his mind and went back to her. To them. That was all she could think of while she silently sobbed, crawled up on that uncomfortable chair.

She felt the rage inside her boiling. He had no right, no right to ask her to choose. How could she pick among them? Harry needed her, she couldn't stand knowing that he was fighting on his own. No, she had to help him, to be with him, because it was what she did best. Help. From simple homework to defeating the darkest wizard of all time, there she was, helping her friends. It made her feel useful and that meant something for her. It was a reason to keep going, a reason to be alive.

Ron didn't understand that it wasn't a matter of choosing, it was a matter of staying loyal through it all. This wasn't Harry's journey alone, it was _theirs_, the trio's final adventure. Why did he think it meant that she loved Harry above him? She did love Harry, it was impossible not to, but she also loved Ron, she was in love with him.

At first, Hermione had tried to deny it, the weird feelings she got whenever she spotted him with Lavender. She felt jealous, she wanted to kick him for not realizing what he was doing to her. She was clueless as to why she had fallen for him or when had it happened, she had overthought it for a considerable time, but there seemed to be no reasonable explanation. But then again, when had love made sense?

Since he had broken up with Lavender, he started to act nicer and polite. She had done her part trying to lower the bickering. She thought that now it was going to work for both of them. That they could finally be together. But tonight, he had ruined it again and he didn't even care how it was tearing her heart apart. She acknowledged that he had insecurities, they always took the worst out of Ron. But Hermione had insecurities too, hers had taken control most of the time last year. Still, she was willing to take them away and be better for him. Wasn't it worth the try?

And Harry, the kindest and bravest person she had ever known, had to pay for both of their insecurities. He didn't deserve it, he had never disappointed either of them. Hermione had to recognize that she had her doubts sometimes, but it had nothing to do with Harry, or Ron for that matter. It had to do with the time they were living: the war, the fear and the longing of those years in which all she had to worry about was final exams. Oh how she missed those years, it seemed a life time ago.

She didn't want to think of Ron anymore, least talk about him. It was way too painful to take. Only for tonight would she let her emotions rise to surface, only tonight she was willing to cry her eyes out.

She told herself that over and over again, yet she couldn't keep her promise because when you less want to think about something, the more you do. So she spent the next few days drowning in her pain, almost indifferent to the boy beside her.

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**Harry's POV**

The next days were cold and uneasy, Harry and Hermione had barely talked to each other. Harry didn't know what to do, he knew she was hurt but he was way too angry at Ron and he had never been good at comforting girls, specially Hermione. One would think that after seven years of being best friends, Harry would know exactly what to do. But the truth was that he had never seen her this way, she always kept her feelings to herself. Not even once had she asked for his help, she was too independent for that.

It seemed like she was trying to avoid talking about Ron but he was sure he had caught her crying in the middle of the night, right when he couldn't sleep either. It had started to be disturbing and all Harry could do was blame himself for that. Maybe it was true, he didn't have what it took to defeat Voldemort, maybe he was just fooling around trying to get answers out of nowhere; attempting to do something that he couldn't do. Maybe he was meant to fail. The thought scared him, he didn't care about dying but he wanted to save them. He wanted to give a meaning to the deaths of the people he had loved, he owed it to them. So, even if the possibilities were minimal, he was going to try. Even if the quest would take his life, he would do it.

Nevertheless, the self encouragement didn't ease the lonely feeling he had. While he'd never intended to put at risk his friend's lives, he didn't want to do this journey alone. He needed them to remain sane. So he told Hermione that he wanted to go to Godric's Hollow, to the place where it all had started. Harry needed to be assured that he had a chance, that this was not in vain, that Dumbledore had cared for him and hadn't left him alone. He longed for that.

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_**So, first chapter is done. I hope you enjoyed it but just as a reference I would like to know if you would like me to continue. If so, please be patient for I've been having loads of homework lately (last year of high school D:) . Also I would appreciate if you could let me know if I have mistakes in the writing, not being a native english speaker makes it more difficult and I don't have a beta reader.**_

_**You know what to do, R&R! And thanks for taking your time :)**_


	2. A Visit to the Past

**_So, the lack of homework allowed me to write this second chapter this afternoon. For those who were wondering, this will be a Harry/Hermione romantic fic (sorry for not having made that clear before) but I wanted to start right from the 7th book and specifically the chapter in which Ron left. Thanks all the reviewers and readers for taking your time on this story, I really appreciate that._**

**_Oh and I know the title of the chapter is lame, I couldn't think of anything better hehe D:  
_**

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**Chapter 2 -A Visit to the Past**

Harry was nervous. Today they were finally going to the place where he had lived a long time ago. The place where he once had a family, even if fate had made him forget those days. He was scared too, he had never been there since he was a baby and he had wanted to, not just because there might be a chance of finding the sword, but because it reminded him that happy days could come back. Hope was a very dangerous thing to lose, specially to him.

The Polyjuice Potion was ready for them to drink. Harry thought at first that it was unnecessary, he wanted to go to Godric's right away but Hermione convinced him that it was safer, that way no one would be able to recognize them. Harry knew that if it wasn't for her, he would had let his impulsive-being take lead of the situation and maybe he wouldn't be standing there today; she always thought of everything he did not.

So, they drank the potion and set out. They were constantly looking back to be sure no one was following them; times like these had made them paranoid. When they finally arrived disguised as muggles, Harry saw that the village was full of Christmas decorations. He suddenly felt the urgency of rush in and celebrate with the rest of the people, they looked so happy, unaware of what was happening outside in the world of cruel men. Christmas was his favorite time of the year, even with the Dursleys he had managed to spend a decent evening, at least they were joyful. And being with the Weasleys was the warmest he had ever felt.

He came back to reality when Hermione mentioned that the graveyard may be near. The warm feeling left him replaced by a strange mix of excitement and fear. They approached crossing the kissing gate at the entrance of the yard and found the tombstones. Passing through the many familiar names, Harry had not yet spotted his parent's still every time he looked at a tombstone his heart skipped a beat. A considerable time must have gone by because the carols of the church nearby had stopped. The silence that filled the air made the uneasiness he felt even bigger. He then heard Hermione's voice calling him.

"Harry they're here… right here".

He walked to where her voice had come from with such a slow pace that it seemed as if he was carrying the weight of the world on his back; maybe he was after all. From the distance he read the names of both James and Lily engraved on the white tomb. Just below their names there was an inscription which read: "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death". Harry panicked at the sight of it, remembering the death eaters' idea of death and immortality at all cost. Why was it there in the graves of his parents?

His anger must have shown in his face and seemingly reading his thoughts, Hermione stated, "Don't. It's not what you're thinking of, Harry. It has a deeper meaning than that", she took a step closer to him and gently put her hand in his shoulder, "It means living beyond death. Staying not in body but in soul… in the heart of the people you loved".

Harry turned around and Hermione took her hand off his back. Facing him, she could see the tears forming in Harry's eyes who was desperately trying to fight them from falling. He stared at her for a couple of seconds and turned again at the tombstones thinking of what she had said. Were they really there, inside him? If they were, why hadn't he felt them before? And Sirius, was he there too?

The sight of Harry was the saddest thing Hermione had ever seen in her life. Watching him so vulnerable staring at the family he hadn't had the chance to be with, broke her heart entirely. Hermione had to do something just like she always did, she didn't know if it was going to help him feel better but she had to take the risk.

Harry suddenly felt someone embracing him from behind, tightly. He knew it was Hermione and at her actions, he couldn't hold the tears anymore. He let them fall slowly at first, but the feelings he had held for so very long were flowing to the surface and he sobbed. Hermione made him turn around and saw that he was now crying, she wiped every tear that was falling from his cheeks with the back of her hand. Harry took her hands in his and held them in his face while closing his eyes. He then hugged her with all his might.

"I'm scared, Hermione", he said between his sobs, Hermione holding him. "I don't want to die".

She hadn't expected such a true answer from him. Truth was that she was scared too, scared of the dangers they would have to face soon. But she was certain of one thing. "That's not going to happen".

Harry sobbed louder, running his hands over the back of his friend. "How can you be so sure?".

"Because I won't let you. I would never let you." She pulled back still with her hands on his winter-jacket. She was crying now too. "I'd do anything to stop you from getting harmed, Harry, trust me. You should know that." She pulled him into her arms again and they remained like that for a while.

The polyjuice potion had stopped working and now Harry could sense the form of the girl that had given him back the hope he was about to lose. "I believe I have never thanked you properly for everything. I'm sorry for that".

Hermione smiled, "You don't have to. That's what friends are for, right?" Harry returned the smile and now aware of their situation said, "We should get going", he pulled back from the embrace, "They can see us now".

"You're right, we should." Harry started walking towards the entrance. "Harry, wait". He turned around at her. "There's something missing". From her wand, Hermione conjured a wreath of roses and gave it to Harry, who took the roses uncertain. "For them, for your parents".

Harry beamed at her and carefully laid them on their graves. He then put his right arm around Hermione's shoulders and led her to the kissing gate. He glanced backwards for a second thinking of everything that Hermione had told him. "Is everything ok, Harry?", asked Hermione concerned. "Yeah, let's go", and together they walked away.

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_**Alright, I tried to write this chapter the best I could, now that I'm reading I like it but I'm thinking maybe it's too short. I've never been too good at writing long stuff so I apologize for that. I'm going to try to write longer chapters from now on. **_

_**I also wanted to alternate both of Harry's and Hermione's POV because I think it is important to remain aware of what they're both thinking and feeling in the same moment; but I did focus on Harry more since the visit concerns him more. **_

_**Again, I thank you for reading and taking your time in reviewing. Have a nice day! :)**_


	3. Nightmares

_**So, I'm back with this little story. I want to apologize for making you wait but I was really busy and to be honest, lacking inspiration too. Hopefully, this chapter will make up for that wait.**_

_**I want to warn you that I skipped some moments of the book, it is set up right after they went to Bathilda's house. I think must of us have read it and know what happened before (those who haven't, sorry but I still believe it's quite comprehensible on other levels). Those moments are just the way JK wrote them. Also, I added a little (ok, not so little) twist. I hope you guys like it.**_

_**You know the disclaimer, don't own a single thing :(  
**_

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**Chapter 3 - Nightmares**

_"Harry, it's okay, wake up, wake up!"_

A voice was calling him, taking him out from that horrible vision. No, not vision, memory, twisted through Riddle's eyes. He felt a hand gently shaking him from his shoulder and now free, he opened his eyes. The snake was there no more, instead he saw a very familiar face and his fear was gone the moment he saw Hermione's concerned features.

"Harry, do you feel alright?", she asked softly.

_Now, I __do_, he thought. He glanced at his surroundings and realized they were back in the tent. Hermione must had managed to take them out alive and had wrapped him in a lot of blankets. The night wasn't over yet and its quietness was filling the entire place. Hermione was still looking at him intently, for he had not answered yet.

"We got away", Harry smiled briefly. Hermione tried to smile back but she couldn't, her concern still present on her face. Harry noticed she had a small, wet sponge on her hand.

Apparently Hermione saw the direction of his look, she tried to hide it from him but it was too late and a questioning look had appeared on his eyes.

"You've been… Well, you haven't been quite… um,", Harry asked her to go on with his eyes and he leaned forward. "You've been ill", she stated with more security, "Quite ill, I've been using the sponge to lower your temperature".

Harry sighed, the battle must had weakened him in a significant level. He looked at her again now understanding her worry. "And I've been… what, unconscious?", he asked.

"Not exactly. You were shouting and moaning and… things" she said in an uncomfortable tone and it made Harry worried now. What did she mean by it? Had it really affected him that much?

"Things?" He asked, clearly uneasy. Hermione did not answer right away, instead she was avoiding looking at him and seemed embarrassed, perhaps even scared. She brought a hand to her face and moved away a long lock of hair that was falling beyond her chin. Harry, who was staring intently at her waiting for the answer to his question, noticed slight purple marks on her neck as she removed it, the hair had covered the marks again but the exchange had been long enough for him to notice.

Horrified, Harry asked her, "What happened to you?", Hermione turned to him in a second, confused. "What do you-", she started saying but he interrupted her. "Your neck.", he pointed a finger towards her neck, "Why do you have those marks?".

She moved her left hand and took his finger from pointing out at her as she turned her head away from his gaze again, "Nothing", she murmured.

Her back was slightly turned on him again and she kept staring at the floor. Harry moved closer to her, worried more than ever. "Hermione". She didn't answer but she twitched a little at the sound of her name. "Hermione!"

Still not looking at him, she said, "It's nothing, Harry. Nothing for you to worry about, really", yet it was obvious something had happened and he was no fool. Hermione said this knowing it was too late, he would not drop the subject until he got the answer he didn't deserve to have. Or at least, one that she wasn't willing to give.

"Did someone harm you?", he whispered trying to calm down, "Hermione, please tell me. Who did this to you?", and with a hand on her shoulder he turned her face towards him in a rough movement. She lifted her head and looked at him, Harry had never seen her so scared in her entire life. And then it hit him, her eyes declaring the terrible truth.

Harry backed away from her feeling dazed. He brought his two hands to his head and held them there forcefully. He couldn't. He wouldn't- no, not in a million years. How had it happened? He refused to believe he would do something like that to her. But Hermione's scared eyes held no lie, he had done it, he had been the one who harmed her.

"W-wait. It wasn't- your fault. Y-you weren't yourself, Harry. You kept shaking and I was foolish to come near to you. I-I w-wanted to help but you were merged in this- this nightmare… or vision, I don't know what it was". She tried to move forward to take his hand but he backed away even more. "Harry, don't. I don't- I don't blame you. You weren't you".

Yet her words did nothing but make him feel even worse. He was a monster and he couldn't even believe she was trying to justify him. He got up not wanting to be near her anymore, fearing what he was capable of if he had her close. He stormed from the tent hearing her yelling desperately.

Outside, it was all swallowed into darkness, for the night had not disappeared yet. Harry was boiling up inside, his self-hatred bigger with each second. He saw a bunch of tied logs for the bonfire and he hit them with all his strength repeatedly. He yelled at last and dropped to his knees. Just some hours before, she had claimed she would never let him be harmed and ironically he had failed to do the same; and in the worst way possible. It then occurred to him that maybe she would want to leave now, just like Ron had, and he couldn't blame her. Who would want to be around some pathetic maniac who was supposed to be a hero? The reality was that he was nowhere near that, the hero definition, he could never get a single damn thing right. Not even her, his best friend.

He walked around in circles for what seemed hours, hoping he would get lost so that he wouldn't have to see her pack her things and leave. He thought she would have enough time while he was outside carrying his grief with every step he took. Until at last, he reached the top of a small hill and witnessed from there the rise of the dawn, the rays of the sun diffused between the terrible clouds that were threatening to let a gigantic winter storm fall anytime during the day. A sight which wasn't supposed to calm him, instead doing exactly the opposite.

He decided to return to the tent and face the reality of being on his own again, like when he was eleven and every day he had to wake up and find himself living on a dirty, old cupboard. Nervous, he came near the tent slowing his pace and upon reaching it, he got in on the same slowly way. He had been holding his breath those moments but he lost it when he found her still there, sitting on that sad chair, sleeping. _She had not left._ He felt amazingly relieved by the sight of her and not wanting to wake her, he planned to go to his rough bed quietly.

But as he was setting to do this, one of his steps made an awful sound and she woke up in an instant. He cursed under his breath at his lack of subtlety. Hermione was startled at the noise but watching Harry a few meters away, she calmed. "Harry, you're back". She cleaned quickly the traces of tears in her cheeks hoping he wouldn't notice them but just like a few hours before, it was too late. She had been crying and it was his fault, again. "For a while, I thought you had left for good", she continued.

"For a while, I thought you had too.", Harry answered sadly. Both of them looked at each other intently for some reasonable seconds. The hurt written in each of their eyes.

"Why would I leave? It wasn't me who got mad", Hermione answered confused and a bit irritated.

"Because- because of what I- because of what happened", he said, unable to remark with words the exact thing. She understood now that he had been blaming himself for hurting her and there she was thinking he was just mad at her. She could only imagine how much Harry hated himself at those moments. "Why would you want to be near me, anyway?", his voice continued.

Now it was him who was avoiding the other's gaze, ironically enough. She couldn't believe that he thought she would just leave after something he hadn't purposely done. She sighed loudly to steady herself at such statement. Harry feared for a moment that she was about to tell him that he was right and that she should leave at once. But he was surprised when he heard her next words.

"Come here", she said softly. He stood where he was unsure at what she was getting at. "Harry, come here. Please", she demanded now and he obliged confused.

The exchange of words had passed with Hermione still sitting on that chair. When he was right next to her, she took his left arm and gently forced him to drop to his knees so that he was on her eye-level. "Have I ever told you that I hate it when you're being stubborn?", she drop the hand around his arm to his hand and squeezed it. "And more when you don't trust what I say".

Harry lifted his face and saw Hermione trying to smile at him. "Harry, I told you it wasn't your fault. That thing took over you", she took his chin between her hands caressing the sides of his face. "You were just hallucinating and I understand that. I managed to get away from you before it went disastrous".

He kept staring at her unable to say something, she was saying everything anyway. "Besides, you would never hurt me willingly, would you?", she said smiling tentatively. Harry shook his head assuring her. "Never".

Hermione chuckled and smiled wider. He looked so cute when he was insecure and leaving his shields behind him; she couldn't help herself, she gave him a small peek on his right cheek. He blushed furiously like a little kid and she embraced him tightly, "See? I knew you weren't serious", she said while he smiled through the brown hair surrounding him now. "But you should have seen the look on your face on that moment, almost devilish". He backed away and gave her a nasty look. She laughed and with her arms still around his neck, she assured him again, "I'm going to be fine. Please, don't worry". He nodded.

After a while, Harry got up and tended a hand to help her get to her feet. "I don't think it would harm us to get a nice, refreshing sleep. It would be the wise thing to do, even if it's morning already", he offered.

"For once, I think you might be right, Harry. Just don't get used to it much", she said smacking his arm playfully. She walked towards her bed when Harry called her.

"Hermione?", he said.

"Yes, Harry?, she answered turning around to him. He was not sure what he wanted to say but he felt like he had to say something. "I-I… uh, never mind, have a good sleep."

She smiled, "Have a good sleep too, Harry." And he watched her walk away before deciding to do the same.

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**_So, just to make sure it was understandable... Harry did strangle her, but it wasn't intentionally. I was just wondering of the possibility of him harming her physically and the idea seemed to fit, somehow. Remember Harry wasn't Harry, so don't get mad at me (for that reason anyway). Again, thanks for reading... and reviewing of course :)_**

**_Oh, I almost forgot to mention that I tried to make this chapter longer than the previous ones, you tell me if it's enough :) Have a nice Halloween!_ ^^**


	4. Of Treasures and Hearts

_**Hi! I know I took a lot to update but I've been deadly busy with school and personal issues so I apologize. Anyway, today's the big day and in about an hour I'm heading to the cinema to watch DH part 1 (so excited!). I hope we all enjoy it!**_

_**So, here's the fourth chapter, larger than the others and hopefully better. **_

_**You know it, I don't own Harry or Herms (nor Emma's new haircut). **__**Enjoy!**_

**Chapter 4 - Of Treasures and Hearts**

When Harry woke up, it was almost dusk. It was hard to believe that only a day had passed since he went with Hermione to Godric's Hollow; it felt like a week or more to him. He was deadly tired and although he'd tried, he couldn't get a good sleep that day; but he wasn't surprised, most nights he didn't sleep well either. Harry gave up his attempt of getting out of his bed and instead he stayed laying with his arms crossed over his chest while he stared at the roof of the tent. He sighed wondering how everyone else was doing, how they were coping with their not-so-calm-anymore lives… besides Hermione, he hadn't seen any familiar face since Ron had left and even if he loved her company, he was starting to feel a bit lonely. He missed Ron badly and the way he could get a laugh from him every once in a while; he had always managed to make Harry happy if only for a short time. But now he was probably being taken care of by mummy and daddy Weasley, not worrying about how bad the last weeks had been for both Hermione and him. He wanted to hate him but he couldn't, after all the three of them had passed through a lot and instead Harry held the hope that he would come to his senses and show up any moment laughing and making jokes.

And then there was Ginny. Sometimes, Harry regretted not having asked her to come with him, it was a selfish thought but he just wanted to see her so much… It was hard to explain, this mixture of feelings and stress… and all he could think of was the longing for some kind of physical comfort and closeness. He sighed again and pulled out the Marauder's Map, at least that way he could see the spot of her name. Just then, Harry realized a shocking and terrible thing: his wand was missing! He got off the bed and looked for it on his clothes and the small room he was sleeping in but it was nowhere to be found, not under the blankets, not on the pockets, not anywhere on the floor… Where was it?

A panicked Harry got out of his room but outside he instantly smelled the delicious scent of fried chicken and sausages. His stomach rumbled because he had not eaten all day either and driven by the intoxicating smell, he forgot all about his wand. He walked towards the kitchen and found the gentle back of a young woman cooking exactly what he had smelled, it was a lovely sight. Wait, not lovely, just… warm, yeah that was the right word. A warm sight. Harry knocked on the small table near the stove to make her aware of his presence.

"Harry, I'm glad you're awake. The food is almost ready", Hermione said to him giving him a big smile. Harry nodded and took a seat on the end of the table watching her as she finished cooking. Finally, and after several growls of his insides, Hermione served the meal and they both started eating.

"This is great, Hermione", he said truthfully. He hadn't eaten so well since forever.

"Maybe it's because we have been starving to death lately", she chuckled.

"But I mean it, it's wonderful. What I was wondering is how you got the food? It wasn't on the tent or so...", Harry asked curious.

"Actually I… took it from a shop of a town nearby"

"You stole it? And you complained about me breaking the rules at school", Harry said surprised at her cynicism.

"It's not the same. We needed the food", she said seriously and Harry couldn't deny it. At that pace they would have really died from not eating.

"Still, somebody could have seen you. It's dangerous to go out there alone", he said worried.

Hermione chuckled again "Trust me, Harry. I was not seen. I'm more careful than you think I am. I took the liberty of using your cloak", and she pulled it out from her bag.

Harry glared at her and she just kept smiling at him. When they both finished the meal (which was on a considerably short amount of time for obvious reasons), Hermione used her wand to clean the dishes and the stove, which lead Harry to remember an important discovery.

"Hermione, have you seen my wand? I can't find it anywhere. In fact, I think I haven't seen it since we came back from Bathilda's house", Harry explained remembering that too.

Hermione turned pale all of a sudden and she appeared to be thinking hardly. She took a few steps closer to him and Harry sensed that something was wrong. He didn't think he could handle another bad news.

"Harry, when you were upstairs on Bathilda's room and she attacked you, I didn't know what to do because I was unsure of what was happening there. Only when you came down I knew I had to get us out of there but in order to do that I cast a spell that bounced all over the place and…", she cleared her throat, Harry listening intently, "I don't how to say this"

"Just say it as it happened", said Harry almost yelling, his impatient evident on his voice.

Hermione cleared her throat again tensely "Your wand broke. I think the spell hit it and-" Harry had jumped off the chair interrupting her. He refused to believe such a thing had passed, a wand couldn't break like that, especially not his wand, it had proved to be quite powerful and resistant.

"Harry? I-I –" Hermione started but again Harry stopped her from going on.

"I want to see it", he said to her on an unusually calmed voice. Hermione stared at him before deciding to pull the destroyed wand out of her pocket. She handled the pieces to Harry who took them in his hands.

Harry felt like the day the Quidditch team had come back and told him his Nimbus 2000 was gone, only this time it was worse on every sense. His wand. The one which had saved his life on several occasions. Without it he felt like he wasn't magical anymore and he remembered Uncle Vernon's words: there's no such thing as magic. That wand had proved his uncle wrong and now it was gone too.

"Are you mad?", Hermione asked and as soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted saying them; it was a very stupid question. Harry looked up surprised by her apparent lack of brilliance on that moment.

It was all her fault. The chances of surviving now were extremely lower than before and all because she had decided that the best way to save his life was throwing a gigantic spell all over the place. In doing so, she had instead made things more difficult.

"Are you serious?", he asked now fully angry. He snorted, "You just don't get it, do you? That wand was the twin of his. Its power helped me fight him before and now… thanks to you… I have lost the best weapon I had against him"

He expected her to apologize immediately like she always did but she remained silent staring at him with a horrified look. Either way, he was thankful that she hadn't because he wanted to get away from her as soon as he could.

"I'm going to my room. I can't be here right now". And with that, Harry stormed out from the kitchen, went to his room and collapsed on the bed.

Lying with his head on the pillow, Harry tried to calm himself by taking slow long breaths. It was a time in which nothing seemed to be going on the right way for him; like all the cards played at the table turned out to be gradually fatal and the board was trying to tell him that every attempt he'd made would be worthless; the fate, his fate was already written. He wanted to shout, to scream his lungs out until his voice dried out completely. Without his wand, Harry felt powerless, he knew there was no possible way to fix it; once broken, a wand would be lost forever and the owner would be forced to find a new one. To begin, there wouldn't be a wand as powerful as that one and he had done so much with it already; and there was also the fact that he couldn't get a new one anywhere (they were on the run!). What was he going to do now?

Harry closed his eyes hoping that sleep would slowly take him again and next time he woke up he would find that all had been a rather unpleasant dream. But as he allowed the numbness to take control over his body, someone stepped into the room. Harry opened his eyes to see who the intruder was (though the answer was clear) and he found Hermione carrying a tray with two teacups over it. Without looking up, Harry waited for her to say something.

"I've made some tea", she took a step closer and knelt before him, "I thought you might like a cup", and she handled him one of the small cups.

Harry felt his anger starting to boil up again and he didn't lift his head, "I don't. You can take it away, thank you", he said coldly.

Hermione looked hurt at his refusal and said nothing. She stayed kneeling beside him as if she was trying to figure out what to do next. Harry, on the other hand, wanted to be left alone. "I said you can go", he stated even colder.

His tone seemed to have scared Hermione, she took the tray again on her hands and she stood up on her feet. She turned back and started walking away but as soon as she reached the door, she stopped. She put the tray with the cups on the corner of the room's floor and headed towards Harry again. This action caused Harry to finally look up and when he did, he saw a hint of determination on her face.

"I could walk away having said nothing just to please you, like the most of the time I do. But this time, my sanity is telling me to do otherwise and I want you to hear me out", she said with fierceness on her voice. Confused, Harry just stared at her as she walked closer to him.

"I know this is really hard for you. I can't even imagine the pain you're going through". _No, she can't_, Harry agreed on the back of his mind, "And I know you must hate me right now and it makes it harder to say what I plan to"

Hate? Truth was that he was really angry, but hate... he didn't know if he felt that way towards her. He decided not to say a thing and best let her carry on.

"This isn't easy for me either. Being out there, barely eating, running all the time... I can't sleep at night, Harry. I'm always paranoid, looking everywhere to make sure no one's following us. The stress, sometimes I can't bear it anymore", Harry looked away, knowing at what she was getting at, just like Ron. "And added to that, I have to deal with your change of moods too"

Harry decided to respond this time, "My change of moods? Do you think I haven't noticed how you cry almost every night for him? Does it do you any good?"

Hermione glared at him but avoided his statement, "I made a mistake, a huge mistake and I acknowledge it –"

Harry snorted at this, "I'm glad you realize that", he said with sarcasm.

"I'm sorry, Harry! I'm deeply sorry for that but I wanted to get us out of there alive! I didn't think the spell would bounce up like that! You can't think I did it on purpose"

"Well, your 'good intentions' have just screwed me up more, haven't they?", he said angrily but also with a hint of sadness.

Hermione sighed and took a long breath. "Sometimes, I think you're worse than Ron". Harry stared at her incredulously, not believing she had actually said that.

"The thing is, Harry, that you always take me for granted. You never worry about how I may feel, you don't even ask; and I know you have a lot on your mind but sometimes I wished you'd care a bit", she said, tears starting to form on her eyes.

"I do care!", Harry yelled.

"But you don't show it!", she yelled back, "You're too immerse in your world to hardly even notice me. I've done so much for you, Harry. I erased my parent's memory to come with you, they don't know they have a daughter!", she said now crying.

Harry, who had never been good with crying girls and who was still boiling mad, just answered, "If you regret it so much, why did you agree to come in the first place?"

It was Hermione's turn to look incredulously at him, "I never said I regret it! You're being unfair!". Tears were coming down her eyes and wetting her blouse.

"Then go! Go with your precious Ron, like you want to. I'm sure he's hardly unfair to you", Harry yelled back. Outside it was dark already and Harry couldn't see Hermione's features clearly no more.

"Do you really want me to go?", he heard her say with a deep sadness on her voice. Harry didn't answer, he was trying to calm himself again.

"I guess that's settled then", and she turned around walking out of his room.

Harry stood there for a few seconds. He had just sent her away. Harry thought of everything she had said and realized that she was right. He had always cared for her, that was no lie, but he had never realized how much it had cost her to remain by his side and yet she had been there every waking moment. He ran out of the bedroom and she was still on the hallway, he jumped towards her as quick as lightning and embraced tightly from behind.

"Harry...", she said surprised.

"Don't leave", he said softly, "Don't ever leave me"

Hermione felt her heart melt at his words and more when she felt tears falling on the back of her neck, tears from Harry.

"Harry –", she said but he interrupted her.

"I'm an ass, I'm sorry. I never thought I had hurt you so badly. I'm a hopelessly selfish git", he said between sobs.

Hermione put her arms around his holding him against her, "Oh no, Harry. You're not selfish, you have never been. You're just hopelessly clueless"

Harry tried to laugh but he couldn't. He assured her once more by holding her still and he didn't want to let go of her, he feared she might go if he did.

_Now you know that I heart everything about you_  
_And that's why it's quite hard to get through this alone_

_You're the only one I can talk to about it_  
_In my darkest night I will be on my own_

_These walls that we climb are hard to recognize_  
_They fall when I say your name_

Hermione turned around and faced him. He was trembling and crying, "So, that means you're not leaving?", he asked nervously.

"Only if you don't want me to", she answered. The look that he was giving her was making her feel all funny inside, a strange but warm feeling.

"Of course not. You're all I have left", Harry said truthfully. The moonlight was entering through one of the tent's holes and it was falling on Hermione's face which made her look surprisingly beautiful, something Harry hadn't noticed before.

"Then I'm staying", she said smiling, "I made you a promise"

Harry then took her in his arms again. This closeness felt like what he had read on Dumbledore's family tomb: _Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also_. She was his treasure and from now on he would take care of her like that, with all his heart.

**_Ok, that was it. I know Harry still misses Ginny but if you read closely, he actually misses the physical contact of having her more than her presence in general. I hope you guys like it and I would like you to give me your opinion on the movie too (if you have seen it by the time you read this) for I will post mine on the next chapter. So, I'm heading there to watch it!_**

**_Oh, I almost forgot to mention that the little piece I put was from Travis' song "Big Chair", I love the band and the lyrics were accurate for this chapter._**

**_Thanks again for taking your time!_**

**_Dany_**

_**PD: I have changed a few things that were tremendously bad written (as I posted it before I went to see the movie, I was in a hurry lol) and now's good (according to me).**_


	5. Breaking the Barricade

_**So, I' back again. I should be writing my essay about the aesthetics of evilness (for my class of philosophy) but when inspiration comes, better make the best out of it, don't you think?**_

_**Let me tell you a lot has passed this last week, I bet it's the same for you readers out there xD. I saw the film on Wednesday and I have to say that I just love it. Tremendously. On the past two films, David Yates had not mastered to convince me fully, I always like the movies but this last one is simply out of this world. It's amazing, I loved everything about it, it helped me regain my excitement about the whole series more than ever. I'm not going to say more because I fear some of you may not have seen DH yet but I seriously hope that those who have, share my opinion. **_

_**Furthermore, and I'm proud to say this, on Thursday we had the pleasure of receiving none other than Tom Felton in Mexico City and I was able to attend to the event. He's gorgeous! And the absolute contrary of Draco's personality, he was really kind and charming to the fans (I can't believe how many things he autographed). It was the most wonderful thing in the world *Mona Lisa's smile* :)**_

_**Hehe, that being said, I should go back to the matter here: the chapter. Well, I have a little surprise for you here which I hope you like a lot. I have finally been able to write this up and I like how it worked, let's hope you do to. The title of the chapter is inspired by Interpol's song "Barricade" which I've been a little obsessed with lately. **_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry, Hermione, Tom Felton or anything concerning JK Rowling's work and David's amazing film.**_

* * *

**Chapter 5 - Breaking the Barricade**

_It's gotta be here, it's gotta be there  
It's gotta be now or I'll lose forever  
To me it is strange, this feeling is strange  
But it's not gonna change for anybody_

_And it's gonna be our last memory  
And it's led me on and on to you_

_Accuse me  
Trust me, I never knew  
That you were the one  
You were the one_

"_Fillip", Muse_

The next few days had passed with little to no action. Harry was borrowing Hermione's wand when he took care of the night rounds which was powerful enough, yet he still missed his wand and sometimes he stared at the remaining pieces desiring nothing more than to pull them back together (he refused to get rid of them). It was all turning a bit like a routine but there wasn't much they could do, they were completely clueless as to what to do next or even where to go.

Hermione, on the other hand, had been reading endlessly the entire week (or at least he thought a week had passed, he was starting to lose track of time), not that it was a shock to him but she seemed uncomfortable with what she was reading and being Hermione the biggest-fan of books, that was strange to him. He had caught her glancing at him while reading and he was beginning to be suspicious about it. Either way, he thought it would be better if he just left her be, believing she would tell him what was wrong when she was ready.

Although there was no clue about the track of the horcruxes or Godric's sword, Harry had been feeling better the last days. Yes, it was ironic, but the lack of movement of both Hermione and him had started to make him feel at more peace with everything. He needed that calmness, something to allow him to have his breath steady again and maybe think more clearly about everything to come. He knew that this calmness wouldn't last and that darker times might approach, but for now he wanted to enjoy it.

Harry had also become used to having Hermione around him all day. He had started to pay attention to her more carefully. He was amused at the things about her that he hadn't seen before, like the way she bit her lip when she was worried or the little flock of hair that kept moving to her face and that she had the habit of putting behind her ear… small things that helped him remind himself that she was real and was still here with him; he was not alone. Like Harry, she had been happier lately and she had stopped crying overnight; Harry smiled at the thought of being the one who could make her smile again once in a while, he felt happier himself.

"Harry, you're staring", Hermione said dragging him off his thoughts. Harry was sitting on one of the chairs while Hermione was reading the same book on the other. He had been looking at her all the time he had been thinking, unknown to her, precisely about her.

"Sorry, was just thinking", he answered. When he saw her face starting to look concerned, he immediately added, "Nothing for you to worry about".

"Oh. I don't mind, I just wanted to make sure nothing was wrong", she said.

"Nope, everything's fine", he answered with a brief smile and stretched his arms in sign of laziness. Hermione returned his smile relieved.

"I'm glad to hear that because I want you to see something", she got up from the chair and moved towards his with the book on her right hand. He showed Harry the cover and gave him the answer of the enigma of the book.

"_The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore by Rita Skeeter_. Hermione, how-"

"I found it laying on Bathilda's sitting room. She was the one who helped Rita write the book", Harry nodded in understanding and focused his attention on one of the photographs of the pages which showed a young Dumbledore laughing with a boy who seemed his friend. Harry had seen the young man before on a portrait of Bathilda's house: the thief of Gregorovitch's memory. Harry read the caption below: "Albus Dumbledore, shortly after his mother's death, with his friend Gellert Grindelwald".

"Grindelwald?", Harry exclaimed.

"That's what I wanted to show you", she flipped the pages until she found a chapter entitled _The Greater Good_ and allowed Harry to read it.

After leaving Hogwarts top of his class, Dumbledore's mother had died and he had come back to his house (Godric's Hollow) becoming now the head of his family which consisted of his younger brother Aberforth and his ill-sister Ariana. On that very same summer, Bathilda (friend and neighbor of Kendra, Dumbledore's mother) was housing her grand-nephew Gellert Grindelwald. Grindelwald, had already the reputation of being a dark wizard (in Rita's words: he would miss out the spot of the Most Dangerous Dark Wizards of all Time only because You-Know-Who arrived a generation later) and afterwards was introduced to Dumbledore by his aunt. The two of them became friends and (to the shock of Harry) they shared their dreams of having wizards ruling over muggles with their motto "For the greater good). Their plans, however, where put to test when Albus' sister died and both of them departed, never to see each other again on good terms until Dumbledore defeated him later on his life.

Harry had read the chapter with his lips sealed and a tightening grip on the book's sides. Not only had Dumbledore kept him all regarding his plans and what Harry had to do to defeat Voldemort, but he appeared to be a completely different man from the one Harry had known. Truth was that maybe he didn't know him at all. He closed the book forcefully and put it aside feeling betrayed… again.

"Harry", Hermione softly said as she recognized Harry's angry face for the umpteenth time. "Please remember it's Rita's writing. She probably tangled with the real story. I wanted you to read it because we now know who stole what Gregorovitch lost. If Dumbledore knew Grindelwald, this may be a key on to what we should look for next".

Harry sighed feeling more defeated than ever, "Yeah, you're probably right", he said with no interest whatsoever. He got up from the chair he was sitting and turned her back on her.

"Harry, we can't tell anything for sure. They probably only met each other for a few months. Dumbledore would have never allowed Grindelwald to go further with his plans while being his friend; you knew him", Hermione said.

"Did I?", Harry said with his back still turned to her, "Did I really know him, Hermione?", he turned around looking at her with a sad face.

Hermione stood quiet for a couple of seconds, "He changed. People change, Harry", she assured her trying to bring some sense into him.

"I know he did but it just…", he gave an exasperated growl and moved his hands to his head flicking his hair off his eyes, "Everyone lies. I can't-I can't trust anyone anymore. Everyone's a goddamn lie!", he yelled desperately letting his arms fall to his sides again. And he looked at her again realizing something.

"Everyone… but you", he moved towards her and put both of his hands on each of her shoulders, Hermione looked up to him meeting his green eyes, "You never lie to me, Hermione. You're here unlike the rest of them and if it weren't for you, I would have gotten mad", he confessed.

Hermione smiled at him, "He loved you. I know Dumbledore loved you, that's why he kept protecting you. And even with him gone, he tried to make sure you were still on the right way."

Harry sighed again, "I don't think anyone has ever loved me and definitely less him", he said dropping his gaze to the floor.

"I do", Harry looked up at her words and stared at her widely, "I love you".

She didn't know what had made her say it but it was totally true, she loved him; he was her best friend, her main reason to keep going everyday. And he deserved to know. In his entire life, Harry had never heard those three words directed at him and with the meaning they shared when they'd left her mouth. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever heard and he was happy that it was Hermione who had said it first to him.

He didn't know what to answer to such a deep phrase so being him, he asked, "You do?".

Hermione almost laughed, "Of course I do. Just like he did", she gazed towards the cover of the book featuring Dumbledore's photograph.

Harry followed her gaze but instantly dropped his eyes to hers again. He didn't care about Dumbledore now; he only cared about this precious little person before him and this perfect moment between them. He wanted to say something back, something as meaningful as what she had said but Harry had never been good with words. Instead, he found himself staring at her eyes, those lovely brown eyes, and mesmerized by the sudden dash of beauty he saw on her, he put his left hand on her cheek and caressed it softly.

Hermione closed her eyes briefly at his touch, it felt strange but good at the same time. She opened her eyes and found Harry's face closer to her, his right hand still on her shoulder. The look on his emerald eyes was full of determination and something else she couldn't quite place but she had never seen that look directed at her before; it made her feel butterflies on her stomach.

When Hermione closed her eyes, Harry felt drove in by her and gazed slowly at her lips. He wanted to, to break the imaginative barrier around them and follow his instincts. So he did, leaning closer to her with the slowest pace.

Hermione felt Harry's breath touching her nose and lips. A second later, he had his lips on hers. Hermione was surprised as to how perfectly they matched laying there, their shape almost symmetric. Harry started to move his lips softly and even if she was shocked, she responded. Harry deepened the kiss and moved his right hand to the back of her neck bringing her closer, he caressed her smooth hair carefully. After a few seconds, their lips parted and when Hermione felt his tongue embracing hers, she melted. Never had she felt such a passion inside her and never had she been kissed this way; it was amazing. Harry moaned into her mouth, which caused Hermione to bring herself back to reality. This was wrong.

Harry felt Hermione's hand on his chest and then he was pushed softly backwards breaking the kiss, "Don't. You just miss Ginny", she said with her voice merely above a whisper.

And then she walked away, to her bedroom, leaving a dumbfounded Harry standing beside the table on which an old and wise wizard smiled from the cover of a book.

* * *

_**Yep, finally some action here. I must say I didn't place this scene before because I believe that falling in love with your best friend is not something that comes up one sunny day in the morning. No, it's rather something that takes time and certain things to happen that help you realize how special that person truly is and that you hadn't seen before. So, they had to pass through an evolution. Also, and due to a review by The Room Spins, I changed the dashes for quotation marks as he mentioned it would be easier for you to read (thanks for the advice by the way).**_

_**Next chapter will come up as soon as I can but again I can't promise much; next week is the final week of school and I have a lot of work to do (like my essay which I haven't finished lol) but I'm going to try to hurry up :)**_

_**Thanks to everyone for reading and to those who review. See you soon and if you haven't, please watch the movie! :D**_


	6. Back to You

_**Hi there! I'm back again with a new chapter. After watching the movie again, my mind got cleared and I knew exactly what I wanted this chapter to be. I have to warn you that it is way longer than the previous ones but I had a lot of explaining to do and even if I could have separated it in two, I chose not to and the result is this. Like I always say, I hope you all like it.**_

_**I didn't write a dancing scene but I wrote last weekend a one-shot about it that if you want, you can read. It's called "Wide Future".**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or main stories related in here.**_

* * *

**Chapter 6 - Back to You**

Hermione closed the door of the bedroom after she had stormed out of the living room. She folded her arms against her chest. What had just happened? Few times had Hermione Granger been unable to think properly and she had just come to realize that all those times it had been because of something Harry did or had to do; nevertheless this time had taken the lead… by far. What was he thinking? _Probably nothing_, she thought; after all, wasn't he still a teenager? A very impulsive one. She remembered how must of their arguments had occurred because of his lack of ability to think before act. But even with his impulsiveness, Hermione never thought Harry could do something like that. Something like kissing her. _Her_.

Until that night, Hermione had been happier lately. Everything, though unclear, seemed to be returning to the way it was before; she could concentrate fully again and she had found herself thinking less of Ron with each day. She had missed that serenity. But now… how was she supposed to be able to think clearly again? How would she drag her thoughts off that sensual, delicious kiss she had experienced a couple of minutes before? Wait, had she just described the kiss as-? Hermione shook her head violently and allowed her body to fall gently to the floor. She sighed.

She never thought she would be facing this dilemma again. Yes, again. When she was a little girl and she had attended primary school, she had never had friends, not even one. Her mother always told her that she was different from the rest of the kids, that she was special, a girl born with a natural curiosity and fascination for the mysteries that revolved around the world. So, unlike many of her classmates, she loved school not because the social environment, but because everyday she was given the chance to learn something new and maybe one day, do something with that knowledge.

But the rest of the children didn't understand Hermione's inclination for learning. When meeting persons that are not considered average, the rest of the people tends to judge them, because they can't understand someone with a different point of view. That happened to Hermione at school, the kids always bothered her, about her hair and her bag full of books; they had called her ugly and plain and many times she had to swallow her tears because her parent's had taught her never to cry on public.

Then one day, Hermione got the proof she was waiting for, the one that should have helped her understand why she was different to them. Her mother had just bought her "The Little Prince". She treasured that book, immerse in those pages, Hermione had been shown for the first time the true value of friendship. She dreamed of the day when she would find a friend with whom she could relate the way the Little Prince had with his rose, she wanted to be tamed, to create bonds. But that day, the cruel kids had followed her home while she was reading the book on the school bus. One of them took the book from her hands and she was unable to take it back, that boy had given the book to an older boy who took it and right in front of her eyes, tore each page apart. As soon as Hermione had started to cry, the branches of the trees near her house began to shake violently until one broke and fell on the head of the older boy.

A couple of months later, her Hogwarts letter arrived and she was visited by a witch named Professor McGonagall. Then, she knew she was different. She believed that at this new world in which she belonged, she would finally find the friend she was looking for. But of course, she couldn't help herself and all those holidays, she spent most of her time reading about this magical world. She discovered the story of a boy that had defeated a dark wizard when he was just a baby, Hermione felt truly admiration for this boy and she hoped one day she would meet him. Yet, when she met the Harry Potter on the train, he was nothing like she'd expected him to be, like the sensationalist books had described. He was a plain, normal boy who knew almost nothing about magic, he didn't even seem to know that he was famous around the globe. Even if she was disappointed, Hermione felt a strange attachment towards Harry. She had seen in his eyes a shadow of sadness that made her heart ache a little, though she didn't know why.

Later, Hermione found the awful truth: making friends at Hogwarts was nowhere easier than on the muggle world. People didn't understand her either. So, she cried on the girl's bathroom that Halloween after she heard what Ron said. But that day, her life changed and for the first time, she made friends; they had saved her life and she felt responsibility towards them. Harry soon became her first true friend. She realized that behind those glasses, laid a wonderful person, one that had gone through a lot during his short life, yet he was as noble as any human should be. He taught her how to be a friend. _Books and cleverness_. Harry taught her that there were more important things, like friendship… and love.

As the years passed, the link between them grew stronger. If one day she was to develop a fatal sickness, she was sure it would be because of all the time she had spent dead worried about him. But after all, he hadn't been the only one risking his life, Ron and her had too; it was part of the contract of being Harry Potter's best friends. As if taken from a fantasy novel, Hermione's life went full of adventures and dangers; if she had to be honest, deep down she enjoyed every risk they took because she knew that it was for the greater good, as long as her two friends were safe, she would break any rules written at Hogwarts.

But it wasn't as simple as that. The dark times started to approach and she realized that she had to grow up before the rest of the children. And while she did this, she noticed a change inside her. Every time she was near Harry, she felt a weird feeling on her heart. She wanted to be with him all the time, to hug him sometimes, she even found herself constantly thinking of him while he wasn't around. Was that normal for a girl to feel towards her best friend? She told herself that it was.

Then at the end of their third year, while they were rescuing Sirius, Harry told her that Sirius planned on taking him to live with him. She had never seen him so genuinely happy and the sparkle on his emerald eyes had caused her to seriously think of kissing him right there. Then they had both ridden Buckbeak and being so physically closed to him, had made her wonder more about her previous thought. Surely, there was something wrong with her.

The next year, Hermione tried to deny the strange feelings she had towards Harry. He was his friend, it was normal of her to worry so much about him giving that he was now a champion. That year, she had her first romantic experience with none other than Viktor Krum. He was truly anything a girl could wish for, a remarkable gentleman. But soon, Viktor began to ask her about her relationship with Harry, she explained to him that they were only really good friends but in the end he didn't buy it. _Itz not becoz of vhat that voman vrote_, he said, _it's the vay you look at him_.

By their fifth year, she could no longer deny it: she was in love with Harry. She had noticed because of the emptiness she felt whenever he spoke of Cho or she was around; it made her want to jinx the girl to another dimension. She didn't know what to do about her feelings, she wondered if she had to tell him but she was scared. So she asked for the advice of her foreign friend Viktor. He was glad to know that she was no longer resisting her feelings and he told her she ought to tell Harry about it. She'd decided to do it and planned it right after a DA's meeting. But that was the most unlucky day she could have picked. She waited outside the Room of Requirement for Harry to be alone but Cho had stayed too and from the glimpse of the door, she saw the kiss between her friend and his love-interest. That was the first time she felt heart-broken. Viktor tried to convince her that it was just a temporal stage on Harry's life, that Cho would mean nothing to him in the end. But even if it was true, Hermione realized that he would never look at her in a romantic way; she should better not flip the coin.

So she buried her feelings deep down and convinced herself that if he was happy, she would be also. But she learned of the prophecy and she almost lost it. What was she supposed to do if something happened to him? She could not bare the thought but she remained sure of her decision to let go of him. She would stand beside him always, but she would never allow her feelings interfere with their quest.

So, ultimately she fell for Ron. It wasn't her intention at all, but the way he looked at her, with that longing, it had made her heart melt. She couldn't help herself, she liked this _feeling loved_ thing. Maybe he wasn't at all like her, but he was a great man, brave, caring and loyal. Or at least she had thought he was.

And now, just when she had stopped desiring the impossible, the impossible had happened. The kiss was exactly what she had dreamed of when she was younger, perfect; still, it had arrived too late. She couldn't let herself think of Harry romantically again, she had made a promise and she was going to keep it. Besides, she still loved Ron.

Harry had only kissed her because he felt alone. Like he had said before, she was the only one that had remained with him all along. It was Ginny whom he had wanted to kiss, he missed her and the physical contact he had with her. Hermione understood that. Ginny was the perfect girl for Harry, they shared a lot of similar tastes and she was a Weasley, which meant that Harry would be able to establish a stronger link to the only family he had known. She kept telling herself that while she tried to erase the feeling of his lips on hers.

* * *

Harry was still standing up next to the old table. He brought a finger to his lips feeling the linger that Hermione's kiss had left on them. He could still taste her, that taste that could only be described as Hermioneish; it was truly unique. Harry sighed and collapsed on the chair where he had been sitting before it all happened. With an arm on each of the armchairs, he stared at the cover of the "Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore" book. He thought for a second that he had seen the Dumbledore of the cover smiling, Harry shook his head believing his current state was playing tricks on his mind.

Why had he done it? He honestly didn't know what had brought him to do it. It was probably the overwhelmed of hearing the she loved him, those words felt magical and for a moment he just wanted her to know what they meant to him. Yet, he had chosen the wrong way to demonstrate it, hadn't he? Strained, he got up from the chair and went outside not before taking the locket and Hermione's wand with him. There was a disturbing silence on the air of the nightfall that matched the uneasiness inside his heart. It was snowing lightly.

He thought of what she had said, _You just miss Ginny_. But he wasn't thinking of Ginny when he kissed her. No, on that precise moment nothing else had mattered. It was only them, Harry and Hermione, facing the world alone. Lately, he had stopped missing Ginny, it wasn't that he didn't care about her, but he didn't want her like before anymore. He didn't long for her kisses and presence, he just wanted to make sure that she was going to be fine while he was away.

Then another thought came that had haunted him deep inside since that night when he almost sent Hermione away. Since that day, he felt different towards her, like suddenly he had realized how important he was. Not that he wasn't concious of it before but now he _knew_ that without her he couldn't go on. And she was such a wonderful girl, everything she did was... magical almost. Was he falling in love with her? Was that the real reason why he had felt so drawn by her?

His thoughts were interrupted for he had glimpsed a tiny little silver light in the distance. At first he thought it was just his imagination but soon enough, the light had begun to grow. Harry moved closer to it slowly and when he reached the right distance, he saw that it was a silver doe. It was looking at him somewhat expectantly. Harry raised his eyebrow and glanced around in case it was a trap. But no one was there, only the beautiful doe before him. Harry moved even closer but the doe turn around and ran.

Dragged by some unknown force, Harry followed it while fighting against the snow falling on his face. The doe was in fact a patronus and it reminded him of his own patronus, the stag; that was the reason why he was so eager to reach it. After some minutes of chase, the doe stopped and Harry took a moment to catch his breath.

The doe turned around at him and vanished instantly. "No!", Harry yelled. The ambient swallowed into darkness now that the only light, the one coming from the doe, was gone. Harry casted Lumos and turning around he realized he was at the end of a frozen lake. Harry felt scared. Was it really a trap? He stood there unable to move feeling his heartbeat growing faster each second.

A couple minutes later, Harry decided to examine the lake beneath him. It had a small crack on it and Harry stepped backwards fearing it might break and he would fall. But it didn't and with the movement of Hermione's wand on his hand, he saw something deep below, something bright. It was Gryffindor's sword! But what was it doing there? Harry understood now that the doe had guided him to the sword. That meant someone had put it on the lake, but who?

_The forest of Dean, I came camping here once with my mum and dad_, Hermione's voice echoed in his head. Harry couldn't think of someone that knew that place so it must have been somebody who knew they were hiding there. Whoever it was, it was not important at the moment. He had to get the sword out. Foolishly, Harry used the Accio spell but obviously, the sword didn't move. The only way to get it, was to dive in and so Harry took his jacket off and the locket too, for he thought it was dangerous to dive with it; after all, the sword was going to be used to destroy it. He prepared himself, casted Diffindo and waited for the ice to open; when it was ready, Harry jumped.

* * *

Hermione had spent a considerable amount of time locked in her bedroom and trying not to think of Harry's lips, but she couldn't. She wondered if she should talk with him, she didn't want things to be awkward between them, it had been hard enough to deal with Ron's abandon and she wanted things to be normal again; or at least, as normal as they could be. She decided it was the most sensible action to do.

She exited her room and walked towards his. She drew the curtains open in case he was reluctant to see her and didn't want to talk, but he wasn't there. _He's probably outside taking guard_, she thought, and she went out. In the living room, the book was still there but it was already night and the fire of the chimney had consumed. Hermione started to rehearse what she was going to tell him, she would say it was all a mistake, an impulse of the moment; he would agree and all would be settled again.

But Harry wasn't outside either. It was freezing cold out there and Hermione had to hug herself to remain warm. "Harry!", she shouted. Silence. "Harry!", she shouted once more. Still silence. Hermione walked around desperately but Harry was nowhere to be found. She started to get worried when she spotted footprints on the snow, she followed them for a short distance but then she heard the sound of a branch breaking.

"Harry?", she turned towards the sound, "Harry, is that you?". But no one answered. Near a bush, she saw movement and walked towards it but no one was there. Suddenly, she was dragged backwards and a hand closed around her mouth. Hermione panicked, she didn't have a wand because Harry had hers. She tried to free herself from the embrace of the person holding her but no matter how she struggled, she couldn't. Her shouts were silenced.

Then, the person released her and Hermione turned around to face him. "You!"

* * *

_Splash!_ Harry had jumped into the lake, which was even colder than the air outside. He was thankful of wearing some clothes still. He dove and saw the marvelous sword laying at the bottom of the lake, which wasn't much deep. He took it with his right arm and felt the strength it held, a bravery like no other: the Gryffindor courage. He swam upwards and got out of the lake.

He couldn't believe how lucky he had been and he swayed the sword happily. He didn't want to wait to get back to the tent to destroy the horcrux with Hermione. If he returned with the horcrux destroyed, she would probably forget what had happened before and forgive him for his impulsiveness. He wanted to do this alone.

Harry placed the locket on the snowy ground next to the lake and ordered it to open in parseltongue. The locket busted a gigantic mass of black smoke which went up in the air surrounding the place. Harry fell backwards with the sword on his hand and he witnessed before him, the terrible and dreadful sight of a young and handsome Tom Riddle. Riddle laughed at the sight of Harry.

"Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived... how delightful to meet you again", he said. Harry was still on the ground, supporting his weight with both of his arms. "Are you afraid of me, Harry?", Riddle glanced around and then looked at Harry again, "and where, may I ask, are your friends?"

Harry remained quiet, "Oh, they're not here, are they? You're... let me think of the precise word... alone", he cruelly said. "How does it feel, Harry, to be on your own? So vulnerable", he smirked. The young Riddle then noticed the sword. "You're planning on destroying me, Harry. Fool!", he yelled and Harry could see the red tonality on Riddle's eyes.

"I have seen your fears and believe me, they will come true", he claimed and Harry felt terror in his heart, "Unless, of course, you give up. We can still be allies, rule the world together. I'm willing to share my victory with you".

"Never!", Harry yelled angry.

Riddle glared at him and then regained his position. "As you wish", and then he vanished into the black smoke. Harry took his chance to get on his feet. The smoke still surrounded the locket and a second later it transformed into a new figure, the figure of Albus Dumbledore. Harry couldn't believe what he was seeing but he soon realized it was a trick of Riddle, this Dumbledore had a cruel serpent-like look in his eyes.

"My dear boy. Look at you, soaking wet, trying to accomplish something you can't", he said, "I knew you couldn't do it right from the start. I knew you were too weak, too naïve to do it. If you have come this far, it has been only because you've had people who had helped you", the Riddle-Dumbledore shook his head, "If you try to go further, Harry, he WILL crush you". Harry breathed faster and stronger, like a bull. "You wonder why I lied to you. The truth is that I enjoyed myself while leaving those _hints _to you. Did you really think, Harry, that I was helping you? Like I said before, _you can't do it_."

And then Dumbledore disappeared too. Now, from the locket came the figure of none other than Ginny Weasley. She looked more beautiful than Harry had ever seen her but like Dumbledore, she was a trick.

"Harry, Harry, Harry...", she said while moving closer to him, "Do you want to know the real reason why I was so interested in you?", she didn't wait for his answer and continued, "It's rather obvious, isn't it? I was after your fame. Imagine how much pleasure it brought me to presume that I, Ginny Weasley, the only girl on my stupid poor family, was dating the Harry Potter", she brought a hand to her chest proudly, "I've never loved you. Not for a second." She looked at Harry deep in his eyes and then said glaring at him, "But you don't care anymore. I can see it".

Another figure appeared next to Ginny, "No, he doesn't... dear sister", it was Ron. "Surprised to see me, aren't you, Harry?", he said. The Riddle-Ginny disappeared leaving only Ron before Harry. "So, it looks like finally Potter has realized what he truly wanted all along", he continued. "Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, Harry. But she is mine!", he yelled.

Riddle-Ron moved around in circles, "You have stolen everything from me: my family, my friends, my talent at Quidditch... always wanting to be number one. But this time, Harry, I have something you don't: I have Hermione's heart", Harry felt an itch on his heart, as if he had been stabbed; and he stared at the ground.

Ron noticed this, "You're pathetic. What do you have to offer her? Nothing! But me... I have stability, a family... and more importantly, I notice her". Harry wanted to reply something, to say that he cared about her, more than anything else; but he couldn't find his voice, "For whom did she cry weeks? For whom was she thinking of abandoning all? For me, Harry; not you. Never you."

Then, what Harry had expecting but was afraid to see, happened. A Hermione figure came out of the locket and she looked at him with cruelty. She smiled at him, a devilish smile, before she wrapped her arms around Ron from behind and laid her head on his shoulder. "Ron's right, Harry. You have nothing for me", she started tracing circles around Ron's chest with her hands, "I only stayed out of pity. I pity you and your endless misery. Can't you see how disturbing you are?"

Harry glared at them and then chuckled. _They're not real_, he reminded himself, the real Hermione would never say that. "I could never love you", she stated, taking all of Harry's consciousness at once. Harry looked at her with sadness as he felt his heart breaking.

"Look at him, Hermione... so wretched", Ron said smirking.

"Like a lost puppy", she completed. And they both started laughing, loud and with evilness. The laughter was louder with each second, haunting Harry's mind. _I do, I love you,_ he heard inside his mind. And he remembered, how true her words had sounded. She did love him, he held no doubt of it now. With courage that could only be described as Gryffindor-like, Harry seized the sword rising it up high and ran towards the locket finally stabbing it with strength that came right from his very heart.

The Riddle-Ron and Riddle-Hermione looked at him with terror as he ran nearer and then vanished the moment the sword touched the evil locket. A loud scream came from it and the words: "_You can never defeat me, Potter_!" were thrown to the air of the night. Following the stab, a bolt of energy traveled through the sword up to Harry's hands and it hit him making Harry fall to the floor, his hands letting go of the sword. The energy had been so strong that Harry started shaking violently like a possessed child. "Ahhh…" He kept shaking painfully, unable to stop. Until at last, Harry lost all will and strength remaining and the shakes stopped.

He remained laying on the snow, with his eyes open entirely. His vision was blurry at first but within seconds, he was able to regain his perception and saw that the sky was full of tiny bright stars; the moon above was hidden by a pair of blurry clouds that yet allowed the white light to pierce through them. _He had done it_, he had destroyed the locket. With that thought in mind, he forcefully got up but felt pain in all his body. He cried.

Never minding the pain, he stood up with difficulty and took the sword his hand and with the other he put the broken horcrux around his neck. Harry could barely held himself so he used the sword as a walking stick and tried to walk with it. It was hard, but he had to do it. He had to get back to the tent. He wanted so desperately to see her, to embrace her and get lost in her sweet scent. Thinking only of her gave courage to Harry to keep going on, holding himself with the sword and the trees nearby.

One step and he was closer to his destiny. Another. He cried in pain. A third step, oh how he longed for a look of her face. A fourth step and his leg twitched, he almost fell but he took a fifth step to stabilize himself. He had to tell her, to tell her that she meant the world to him, that without her he was nothing and the kiss they had shared had come from deep inside his heart but he had been fool to acknowledge what it hid. Because he loved her, the kind of love that Dumbledore had told him it would defeat any darkness in this world; and she deserved to know. So he continued his desperate walk towards the tent and at last he reached his destination.

There was light inside the tent and Harry saw what could pretty much be Hermione's shadow and he felt better thinking of her and what he was planning to say. But then, a second shadow appeared, bigger than Hermione's and it came near to her. Harry panicked and he walked faster towards it until he heard whispers.

"Hermione, please. Ouch! Stop!", the voice said.

"Do you think you can just come back and pretend everything's fine?", Hermione's voice shouted, Harry walked even closer.

"I'm sorry! I promise you, I regretted it the moment I left-", the other voice called desperately.

"Then why did you?", she yelled and after her yell, the tent went to entire silence, "Why did you leave me?", her voice came once again but this time Harry could sense that she had broken in tears. The second shadow approached Hermione's and hugged her as she cried.

"I don't- I don't know why I did it. I guess I was scared", the male voice said sweetly, "Shh… everything's ok now".

Harry felt sick at the sight before him, he had stepped closer and he could see now who the second figure was. Ron had come back and he was embracing Hermione tightly, like a couple would do. Harry swallowed a sigh and he walked backwards hitting a log accidentally. He must have made quite a noise for a second later, they broke their embrace and Hermione stepped outside the tent.

There before her was Harry, looking weaker than a zombie, holding Gryffindor's sword with his hands and carrying what seemed to be the locket destroyed around his neck. He was soaking wet and he was staring at her with a defeated look that made her feel a hole on her stomach. "Harry! I've been dead worried about you", she shouted and ran to him.

"Oh my god, what happened to you?", Harry didn't answer, he felt like throwing up right there, "You destroyed the locket!", she said excitedly and he nodded weakly, "But dear Merlin, you must be freezing, let's get inside."

She put an arm around him to help him walk and inside he now saw Ron looking expectantly at him but as Ron saw his condition, his face changed to one of concern. "Mate, what's wrong with you?", Harry could only glare at his friend and the sight of him made him dizzy. He started trembling. "Harry?", Hermione's voice called. He looked once more at her and then collapsed on her arms, unconscious.

* * *

_**I took a lot of time writing this chapter but I think it was worth it. I made some references to "The Little Prince", a book that I love dearly and that is as a matter of fact, the first book I'd read; I figured Hermione must had read it too while she was a kid.**_

_**You would also notice that I changed the events, now Harry is the one who destroyed the locket. I decided to write it this way because it shows Harry something he had been denying lately and also to prove that he really has courage inside him. Ron finds Hermione first because according to him, he had heard her voice and so the light leads him where she is, not where Harry is; she was also away from the tent when they encountered (following Harry's footprints) so the protective spells don't work there.**_

_**I'm also not quite sure of the form of the tent but since they are wizards, I figured I could "design" it my way. It is something like a small flat, with rooms that instead of doors, have curtains, and with a living room and kitchen. So, forgive me if it is nothing like the book and of course, not like the film.**_

_**I think that was all I had to explain. I want to thank my awesome reviewers and readers for encouraging me to keep writing. It is really helpful. **_

_**Please review! And have a nice weekend :)**_


	7. A Hard Day's Night and the Morning After

_**So, chapter 7 is here. I wasn't able to write before because I've been having some personal issues and because of that, I was lacking inspiration too. I'll try to write more as soon as I can. **_

_**The quote at the beginning is from OotP when Hermione's attacked by Dolohov but it has a twist.**_

_**You know the disclaimers...**_

* * *

**Chapter 7 - A Hard Day's Night and the Morning After**

"_Well done, Ha –"_

_But the Death Eater had just struck dumb made a sudden slashing movement with his wand from which flew a steak of what looked like green flame. It passed right across Hermione's chest; she gave a tiny "oh!" as though of surprise and then crumpled onto the floor where she lay motionless._

"_HERMIONE!"_

_Harry seized his chance: "PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!"_

_The spell hit Dolohov before he could block it, and he toppled forward across his comrade, both of them rigid as boards and unable to move an inch._

"_Hermione", Harry said at once, shaking her as the baby-headed Death Eater blundered out of sight again. "Hermione, wake up…"_

_Neville crawled out from under the desk again to kneel at her other side, blood streaming from his rapidly swelling nose. He groped for Hermione's wrist._

"_I'm sorry, Harry"_

Harry suddenly opened his eyes and woke up. He was sitting on his bed with a bunch of blankets around him and he was gripping them with his hands. He breathed over and over again scared, his eyes opened like plates. He glanced around and saw a red-haired silhouette close to his bed with his back turned at him. The figure spun around.

"Harry, you're awake", the voice of Ron said.

Harry looked around nervously for his glasses. "Here", Ron said handling him his glasses. Harry took them and put them on. He could now see Ron's concerned face staring at him.

"You gave us a hell of a scare, mate. You almost knocked Hermione over!", he said and he chuckled. "Might not seem so but you're really heavy. For a girl to carry, of course."

Harry was still dazed by the nightmare he'd just had and paid no attention to him. He only heard a word of what he had said.

"Hermione", Harry said with his hands shaking from the shock, "where is she?", he asked.

"She's in the kitchen, I think. Said something about herbs and stuff… for you, I presume", Ron answered and he looked at him on an odd way. To him, Harry seemed disturbed, like when he used to have those dreadful nightmares of death and You-Know-Who. Hell, he probably still had them, even more occasionally.

Harry nodded slowly. _She was alive_, it was all he could think of. It had been only a dream.

"Ron, can you help me out for a bit?", Harry heard Hermione's distant voice calling.

Ron glanced back and shouted back, "I'm coming, Herms!", he looked at Harry one last time and walked out of the room.

Harry was left alone thinking. So he had really come back, it wasn't part of his delusion after destroying the locket. Harry looked down at his hands which were still shaking. He felt weak and cold, being in contact with such evilness reminded him to encountering a dementor; there wasn't much difference, it was the same, surrendering to his deepest fears and memories. Harry's clothes had been changed to his warm pajamas and he was wearing one of Ms. Weasley's sweaters. He blushed at the thought of Hermione undressing him but then again, it was probably Ron who had done it.

The curtain of his bedroom dragged open and Hermione walked inside followed by Ron, who was carrying a small cup filled with some kind of potion. Hermione immediately kneeled and embraced Harry, he took some moments to hug back.

"You had me so worried", she started rambling, "I mean, you just… passed out and I didn't know what to do because you hadn't say a thing since you came back… and then you were carrying Gryffindor's sword and not only the sword, you had destroyed the locket but you didn't explain anything to me, so I –"

"Let the man have a breath, Herms. He'd just woke up", Ron interrupted and Hermione broke the hug, leaving Harry missing the embrace.

"Sorry", she said blushing, she glanced at Ron and moved her head indicating him to give her the cup he carried. She took it and examined the content as if she was deciding whether or not to handle it to Harry.

"I made a potion with some ingredients I had with me since we left Grimmauld Place. It should help you feel better", she handled him the cup which he took. It was hot and filled to the top, Harry was still trembling, so unwillingly he spilled a bit on his right forearm. His skin burned at the contact.

"Harry!", Hermione said reacting instantly and reaching for his arm, she took it in her hands before pulling out her wand from the pocket of her coat. "_Episkey!_", she murmured and Harry's burn disappeared (**A/N: I figured that if the spell can heal noses, it can heal burns too. Nah, actually I didn't find any other healing spell**). Hermione lifted up her face and their eyes connected for a couple of seconds, the look on Harry's eyes was beyond an expression of physical pain.

"Thanks", he murmured. She nodded and returned to her position beside his bed. Harry took a sip of the potion and regretted it immediately, it had a very nasty taste.

Hermione chuckled at the sight of Harry's gestures of repugnance. "Oh yes, it is really… _untasty._"

"Untasty? That wasn't the word that popped into my mind. It's _disgusting_!", Harry replied.

"Not as much as the Polyjuice Potion", she stated. Harry lifted his arms admitting it was true, the Polyjuice Potion probably headed the top of disgusting potions. He then realized that Hermione was carrying her wand again.

Hermione must had noticed he was staring at the wand because she said next, "I took the liberty of taking back my wand since you were too busy passing out".

"Well, it's not like I wanted to. But I'm glad you have it now".

"Why did you have Hermione's wand?", Ron asked. Harry had almost forgotten he was there. He shared a complicity look with Hermione before replying.

"Mine broke and she lent me hers", he said and he took another sip of the awful potion.

"Oh, I see", Ron said probably silently wondering what had happened but he asked no further of the matter.

Harry kept trying to drink the potion on small sips but it seemed like the cup had no end. He noticed by the ambient outside his room that it was still night.

"How long did I pass out?", he asked curiously.

"Um, an hour at much", Ron answered and yawned. "Well, if you don't mind", he got up to his feet, like Hermione he had been kneeling next to Harry, "I'm going to call it a night. See you guys in the morning".

"Night, Ron", Hermione replied and he walked out of the door.

Harry had longed for a moment alone with Hermione but now that they were indeed alone, he was starting to feel really sleepy.

"How did the potion suit you?", she asked worried.

"Great, it was worth the take. I feel much better", he wasn't trembling anymore, "You're brilliant for these things, thanks".

"I'm glad", she said and then added, "… to help you feel better".

_You always make me feel better_, Harry thought but he didn't say it.

"Though I feel rather sleepy", he said instead.

"It's supposed to do that. It will make you sleep fine, without any… nightmares", she looked at him and put her hand on top of his squeezing it lightly. Harry could only stare at their hands and nod.

Hermione sighed, "I'm going to bed too. I'm actually pretty tired", she took her hand back and stood up, "Sleep well".

"G'night, Hermione", Harry replied and watched her walking out before surrendering to a sweet sleep.

* * *

Harry had slept like a log the remaining of the night. Hermione was right, he didn't have nightmares again. He wondered if she had guessed he still had nightmares, particularly after the locket incident in which they had focused on an imaginary death of her on the Department of Mysteries. Harry had to admit that the nightmare was worse than the others, usually they showed him things from the past or the present, but this time it was about a possibility, something that could had pretty much happened that day. Sirius was dead and there was nothing he could do about it, but she could had died too. And just because he had been stupid enough to let Voldemort play with his mind. But that hadn't stop her, she was there risking her life again and Harry didn't know whether or not let her.

He got up from the bed, dressed and headed outside. He heard voices coming from the kitchen and he headed towards it.

"Stop, Ron. You're not letting me finish", Hermione said annoyingly.

"But I want to help! You're not the only here, Herms", Ron's voice said.

"Right, since you love cooking mushrooms so much", she replied.

"I don't. But maybe if I help, they'll taste better"

"They won't. And why do you keep calling me 'Herms'?", she asked.

"Don't know. It sounds… nice, don't you think?"

"No, as a matter of fact I don't", she replied.

Ron sighed. "I thought you'd like it. You're still mad at me, aren't you?", he asked with a serious tone this time.

"Ron, I can't do this right now"

"Then, when?", he asked angrily.

Harry chose that moment to make them aware of his presence. He didn't like Ron's tone. He had just come back and he was already yelling at Hermione. Harry wasn't going to let that happen anymore.

"Um, good morning", he said.

Hermione turned around and saw him, she shot a glare at Ron and resumed her cooking, "Morning, Harry".

"Morning", Ron replied drily.

"Did you sleep well, Harry?", Hermione asked without taking her eyes off the mushrooms.

"Yep, that potion is miraculous", he answered.

"Good", she said, evidently still upset with Ron.

The three of them ate the mushrooms silently once Hermione was finished. Hermione and Ron kept shooting glares at each other once in a while and Harry felt like he was back at Hogwarts during one of their rows. Only that this time it had been way bigger, Ron had left for a reasonable time while they had endured hard days. Harry didn't know how to trust Ron again and he was disturbed by his presence. He had missed Ron but now that he was back, he didn't know how to treat him. He was glad that he was back but that didn't erase the fact that he had _left_.

Ron cleared his throat when they had finished eating, "Now that we're all done, I think we should talk about some things."

"I second that", Harry said. He wanted to hear whatever he had to say. Probably what he had been doing all those days he was gone.

"Hermione?", Ron asked expectantly. She appeared to be deep in her thoughts.

"Yes, we should talk. Let's go to the living room".

And the three headed there, each taking a different seat in front of the table. Rita Skeeter's book wasn't there anymore and in its place laid what appear to be Ron's traveling bag.

Harry and Hermione remained silently looking at Ron, waiting for him to say something. He was looking at his bag and shaking his legs nervously, reciting for himself what he was going to say.

"Err… first of all, I'm sorry for leaving", he finally said, "I made a mistake. I let my anger take the best out of me, you know I'm not very good at controlling my temper… It was a stupid thing to do", he continued without looking at either of them.

"But you have to believe me. I regretted it the moment I left", he looked up at Hermione as he said the last part but she avoided his look. "I know I don't deserve your forgiveness but I'm willing to go on with this search. Even if you guys don't want me near".

"Don't say those stupid things", Hermione said now looking at him.

Ron shrugged and continued, "Yeah, well. You probably think I went straight to my parent's house but I didn't. It was too risky to go back there and I wasn't sure they would be there anyway. So, I spent most of this time searching for you", he made a pause, waiting for his friends to say something but they didn't. Hermione just stared at him with a look that Harry couldn't quite decipher.

"But one day, I ran into a gang of Snatchers."

"A gang of what?", Harry asked.

"Snatchers. They're folks that the Ministry hired to keep an eye on every Muggle-born on the run. Like mercenaries."

Hermione made a sound of disgust after hearing that. To think that people were willing to sent innocents to their cruel fate at the Ministry for some money, was unbearable.

"Anyway, I managed to get rid of them", he took his bag and opened it. From it, he pulled out a wand which he offered to Harry, "Here, I got it from one of them and seeing that you're in the need of one."

"Thanks", Harry replied and took it. He aimed at one of the dirty cups remaining on the table and pronounced, "_Reducto!_" The cup broke making a terrible noise that scared Hermione and she let out a shriek.

"Sorry", Harry apologized while he admired the wand. It wasn't as great as his but it was definitely going to work.

"After weeks of looking for you, I decided to investigate if the others were alright. So I went to the Shell Cottage, Bill and Fleur's new house. They received me well and gave me the news. Kingsley's on the run, as many others from the Ministry. The world is going mad, believe me. But at least I knew that my family was fine, they were all in the Burrow."

"I told Bill that I wanted to go to the Burrow on Christmas. It's going to sound awful for you, but I missed my family and I was sure they were safe now; there was no reason not to go So we headed there. Unfortunately, I failed at the apparition and instead ended up a few miles from my house while Bill and Fleur probably landed well."

"I think I haven't mentioned it before but Luna lives near the Burrow".

"Luna Lovegood?", Harry asked surprised by this bit of information.

"Of course. How many Luna's do you know?", Ron replied, "As I was saying, I actually landed on a field almost in front of her house. Since I was a bit tired, I thought I should pay a visit to see how she was doing. As I was heading there, I bumped into her walking around. You know how she is, she was looking for some dirigible plums that had escaped or something like that. Well, she was really happy to see me. She almost tackled me when she hugged me", he blushed a little at the last part and then noticed Harry's look of interest encouraging him to go on.

"I don't know why I did it, it was probably because I hadn't seen anyone besides Bill… and Luna, she's a girl you can trust in, right? I told her all that had happened… how I had… left and she heard all of the story. She told me that it wasn't too late, that you'll probably take me back because… we're friends", he looked up to both of them sadly and Harry wanted nothing more but to forgive him. Yet, something still held him.

"We chatted for some time, Luna and I. She's really an amazing girl, I don't know why I hadn't talked to her like that before"

"Maybe because you were too busy calling her 'Loony' Lovegood", Hermione said sarcastically.

"Well, that's another thing I regret", he gave her a small smile which she unwillingly replied.

Then, Ron's face turned dark all of a sudden and he breathed deep before continuing, "It all seemed to be fine but then we heard a noise, like a _bang!_ coming from her house. We walked towards it but suddenly Luna stopped me. She told me not to follow her anymore. I didn't know what had happened, one minute we were talking and the next she had her hand on my mouth silencing me. She told me: "_I'm sorry, Ronald but you'll understand_". She took her hand out of my mouth and then petrified me! I was too shocked to even realize what she was about to do. After that, she knelt before me and said: "_You're one of the oddest boys I've met, Ron. You're brave but you don't want to be brave and I don't even know why. Find them, Ron. It's the only way you can help yourself. It was nice talking to you"_, she then casted a Disillusionment charm on me."

"At first I didn't understand but soon I did. There were death eaters around her house. I could not move but I heard everything. Her father was shouting: "_Please, don't take her! I'll do anything you want_" and one of the death eaters replied that if he wanted to see her again he had to do something but I didn't hear what it was. They took Luna. And I couldn't do anything to save her!", he stopped trying to calm and then he looked at Harry.

"We have to rescue her. I owe her that much", Harry didn't know what to say, it was hard to believe than even Luna was put at risk. But seeing Ron's determination on his eyes and voice, he even forgot he was mad at him.

"We will. I promise, Ron", he told him.

"Thanks, mate".

Hermione looked concerned, she too wanted to rescue Luna and she was touched by the change on Ron's attitude when he spoke of her. She had never seen him so motivated by something and she felt strangely happy because of it.

"Well, I guess you're wondering how I found you", Ron said.

"Yes, very much indeed", Hermione answered.

"Alright. After Luna was taken, I decided not to go to the Burrow after all. And I couldn't talk to Mr. Lovegood because I didn't want to be seen by the death eaters. So I naturally set up to find you guys again", he pointed with his finger at each of them, "Hermione, sometimes I hate you being so smart, you made it an impossible mission."

"That was the point, wasn't it? Not to be found", Harry said matter-of-factly.

"Aha, very much to my disgrace. There came a moment in which I felt like I was never going to find you. I think it was one of the most miserable moments of my life, I had let you guys down and now I was letting Luna down too. I didn't know where they had taken her so my best shot was finding you first. But I couldn't. Then something strange happened! I heard a voice, coming out from my pocket".

"A voice?", Hermione asked curious.

"Yes, a voice", Ron put his hand on his pocket and pulled out the Deluminator Dumbledore had given him. He took a moment to admire it and excitedly said, "You see, this Deluminator not only lights things. The voice I heard, it came from here", and he pointed to its tip.

"I don't understand", Harry said.

"It helped me find you. The voice, it was your voice, Hermione"

"My voice?", she asked and Ron nodded, "and what was I saying?"

"You said my name. At first I thought I had gone mad but I was soon sure it was you. You said something about someone being worse than me or so".

Harry looked at Hermione, it was the day he had almost sent her away. _Sometimes, I think you're worse than Ron_. Those words had ironically taken Ron back to them. Harry and Hermione exchanged a look that was soon lost when Ron started talking again.

"Your voice faded away and a light showed up from the Deluminator. I felt like it was talking to me and it was. In my mind, I knew where you were. I didn't see the place exactly but I knew where I had to go. So I disapparated and came here. I couldn't see you but I knew one of you would show up eventually. And you did, Hermione", he smiled widely while looking at her and she blushed, "I'm sorry for scaring you like that".

They looked at each other for a couple of seconds and Harry felt disturbed by the way Hermione had blushed at Ron's comment. After what he had lived the previous night, he had realized that he was really in love with her. It was the worst time, he knew that. But he couldn't shake the feeling off. It was unlike anything he had felt before. It wasn't the thrill of being in love like he had felt with Cho and Ginny. It was deeper than that. It was knowing that she meant everything to him and that he would give anything for her. Because he already knew and loved most about her, and she knew him better than anyone else. She didn't expect him to be a hero, because she knew that he was no such thing; he was only a boy that had to take a greater risk than the rest because it was his what his choice. And she understood that he was human after all, not the Chosen-One but Harry, simply Harry. _Her Harry_. And that was exactly what he wanted, someone who could make him feel just like him and loved him because of that.

But he had to swallow his feelings. When he saw his two best friends embracing, he realized that Riddle wasn't wrong. She loved him, but not romantically; her heart had chosen Ron instead. And he couldn't blame her, Ron had noticed her before and he loved her before. Harry had been late. Maybe if he had noticed at the Yule Ball, when she had been the prettiest girl, things would had been different. But in reality, it was Harry's turn to play the part of the best friend. He would take care of her always but he would never said what he felt. She deserved to be happy, even with his other best friend.

"Harry?", he heard a voice calling him. It was Hermione and she was looking at him concerned.

Harry shook his head and got up, "Well, if that's all you had to explain, I'm taking the guard for a while", he said to Ron.

"Wait, Harry", Hermione said, "you still haven't told us how you found the sword".

"It's non-important", he replied.

"What do you mean it's non-important? You destroyed the locket! And you nearly killed me of the worry. I want to hear it", Hermione "Please"

Harry hesitated but took his seat again. "Fine. Yesterday after -", he stopped right in time, he was about to say what had happened and Hermione looked alarmed, "- I told Hermione I was taking the guard. I saw a patronus, of a doe. I know that Hermione's going to say it was stupid, but I followed it. I kept thinking that maybe it was a trap but I was dragged by it; can't explain it properly. After some minutes, we arrived at a lake. The doe had disappeared and nothing happened, no death eater coming out of the trees, nothing. So I took a closer look at the lake and I visualized the sword at the bottom of it. I took out the locket and I dove in to get it. Out of the lake, I placed the locket on the snow and opened it. With the sword, I slew it and that's how I destroyed it", he didn't mention his encounter with Riddle and the visions. It had been too personal and he couldn't tell her anyway.

"But why didn't you wait to get back to the tent to destroy it? We could have done it together. What you did was too dangerous!", she exclaimed.

Harry shrugged, "I thought you would be glad if I came back with the locket destroyed. And I also felt like I should do it alone", he answered honestly.

"Well, you shouldn't have. Look how you returned", she replied.

"But I managed to come back. And I destroyed it", he assured her, "You can destroy next if you like", he said grinning and Ron laughed.

"You're going to be the death of me, Harry James!", yelled.

"But you still love me". He didn't know why had blurted that out and in front of Ron, for Merlin's sake. Yet, it was done.

Hermione stared at him curiously, "Yes, I do", she whispered.

Fighting the party that his monster was having inside him, Harry avoided the theme by saying, "Ok, I'm going out. For the guard. Um, you both can stay right here."

Ron looked as if he hadn't heard a thing and it calmed Harry's nerves, "Alright, I'm going to see if there are any mushrooms left". Typical Ron.

Hermione rolled her eyes and sat down disposing herself for an afternoon of reading. She flipped the pages and after a while, closed the book Dumbledore had left for her. She was starting to get desperate with this book for children. She groaned, she probably had to read it again. She opened the book on its front page and saw it. Then her mind illuminated.

* * *

_**Lame, I know but for now it was what I could get out of mind. I focused on Ron because he's an important character after all. I don't hate him and I believe everyone makes mistakes. So, he deserves another go, doesn't he? Well I hope you guys won't get mad at this because many of you stated that you didn't want him back. Still, I can't do that to him so sorry.**_

_**But I have to admit that after I brought him back, I didn't know how to continue the story; I'm a little stuck on that. I'm going for the main ideas of the book and next chapter will be the visit to Mr. Lovegood (whose name is too funny to spell it).**_

_**Thanks to all the reviewers and readers out there. You're the best.**_


	8. Fairytales Are Not Only for Children

_**First of all, I have to appologize for taking so long on the update. Last week was a very nasty one for me and I've been busy trying to help out my mom and some problems she's been dealing with. And of course, that took all kind of literary inspiration I may had. But finally I manage to write this chapter. I hope you like it.**_

_**Disclaimer: Don't own the characters or main plot on this chapter nor any pieces of songs**_. **_Property of Jo and Roger Waters :P_**

* * *

**Chapter 8 - Fairytales Are Not Only for Children**

Hermione jumped from her seat. That mark on the upper-right corner of the title page of "The Tales of Beedle the Bard" had haunted them almost since they began their journey. But Hermione was now sure that she had seen it somewhere else, somewhere besides the grave of Ignotus Peverell and Mr. Lovegood's necklace. She got up immediately and went straight to her room pulling the curtains open.

"Hermione, where are you going?", she heard Ron mumble from the kitchen but ignored him. In her room, she took Rita Skeeter's "Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore" and went outside as quick as she had entered the room. She fell to the same seat in which she had been reading the other book and flipped the pages furiously.

"Hey, you're starting to scare me", Ron said coming closer to her with a preoccupied face.

She ignored him and kept her search until at last she found it. On one of the chapter, Rita had included an undeniable proof of Dumbledore's friendship with Grindelwald: a letter the very Dumbledore had written to him. But right on Albus' signature, the A of his name had been replaced by the mark. If she was not mistaken, and she surely wasn't, the mark was the key to the path they should follow from now on.

"Earth to Hermione!", Ron said. He had now taken a seat on the chair across hers and was looking at her expectantly. She lifted her head and she was wearing such a determined look, that Ron feared that she was going to start talking about her plans on _spew_. She stared at him but did not quite look at him for some seconds before she spoke.

"We have to see Xenophilius Lovegood", she stated.

"Luna's dad? Why?," he asked puzzled.

Hermione moved on her seat so that she was facing Ron completely and it scared Ron even more. "Because I think he knows something we don't".

"Where his daughter is, maybe?", Ron answered.

Hermione had almost forgot, "Uh, yes. But not only that. Look at this", she handled him the book opened on the letter's page.

Ron lifted his eyebrows, "Bloody hell, it's the book that Skeeter woman wrote about Dumbledore. It has been quite a gossip out there", he smirked and looked at Hermione, "But I thought you hated Rita. Thought she was your… archenemy or something. What are you doing with her book?"

"I've got it when we went to Godric's Hollow-", she started saying.

"You guys went to Gryffindor's birthplace? When?", he asked surprised.

"It's a long story", she answered, "but you're missing the whole point! Look closer, at the signature on the letter", she pointed it with her index finger.

And Ron saw the same mark, "It's that mark! The one Luna's dad was wearing at the wedding", he paused, "Now I understand why you want to go. So you agree with me? I was just about to suggest we went there. If someone knows where Luna is, that must be Mr. Lovegood".

"Yes, we _must_ go there", she answered.

"Wicked. I'm going to tell Harry", and he started to get up from the chair but Hermione stopped him.

"No, Ron", she said and he looked at her questioningly, "um, I think it would be more appropriate if I tell him."

Ron stopped on his tracks understandingly. Harry was probably dealing with having him back. "Right, you should go", he agreed dryly.

Outside, Harry was sitting by a tree and throwing rocks and pieces of wood boringly. After he threw them, he was casting them back using _Accio _trying to get used to the new wand. Harry felt sick at the thought of it belonging before to a Snatcher, he tried not to think of all the evil spells that had been done with it. But he was forced to use it, he couldn't do anything about it.

Suddenly, he heard noise of movement behind him and he turned around with the wand ready to attack any intruder. But he soon relaxed when he realized it was only Hermione, she was carrying a book on her right hand, close to her body. She was walking slowly to him, as if she was scared or nervous of being close to him. He couldn't blame her, after all that had passed the previous night…

"Hermione, what are you doing out here? I thought I'd told you it was my turn to take guard", he said.

She nodded, "We need to talk, Harry", she answered. Harry thought immediately of the kiss. He had been trying to avoid the painful subject and he had believed she had too. But being Hermione, she was obviously intrigued by it and she wanted to know why he had done it, whether it had meant something on his part or if he had just gone completely mental. He didn't want to push on the matter for long, so he decided to "explain" himself before she took the matter into her own hands.

"Um, listen Hermione. What I did was… wrong and… impulsive and I'm really sorry", he said awkwardly, "It won't happen again", he added when he saw her puzzled face. "Christ, you're probably going to slap me now", he said sighing.

Hermione looked at him and replied shaking her head, "I'm not going to slap you. I-I know you didn't mean to – _kiss me_. And I didn't mean to – _kiss you back_. It was just something of the moment…". _Nice, Hermione. You've just admitted that you indeed participated on the kiss by kissing him back_, she thought to herself. This was such a mess.

"Exactly. We got caught up in the… moment", Harry agreed, though his insides were roaming for the truth to be out. They stood there contemplating each other silently for some time.

Hermione cleared her throat, "But anyway, that's not what I wanted to talk about".

Harry mentally slapped himself. He could have avoided the kiss subject but he had to go and screw it up even more. Well, maybe they were bound to talk about it some day, it didn't matter if the day was today or not.

"Um, what do you want to talk about then?", he asked. _Please, let it not be something about Ron_. He didn't want to talk about him either.

"I was just telling Ron that I want us to go to Xenophilius Lovegood's house", she said.

"Yes, of course. He's the only one we can ask about Luna's whereabouts. I thought about it too", Harry replied relieved.

"But that's not the only reason I want to go. I want to ask him about the mark inked on the book Dumbledore left me".

"Grindelwald's mark", Harry stated and when he saw Hermione's surprised face, he added, "Krum told me about it. The mark was used by Grindelwald when he was at his peak."

"I didn't know it was his mark but it makes sense. It appears on a letter Dumbledore wrote to him", and she showed him the book.

Harry saw the mark and sighed, "Mr. Lovegood must know what it means, good thinking. We should head there as soon as we can", Harry said.

"Indeed. We should go back in the tent and tell Ron we're leaving", Hermione answered.

At the mention of Ron, Harry's face turned pale and Hermione, who was ready to walk, stopped. "Harry, it's hard for me to deal with the idea of having Ron back too. But… we must trust him, don't you think?", she said softly.

"I know. It's just…that he left and we", he pointed at them; "we dealt with many things while he was gone. Watching you cry so often… I didn't know what to do besides thinking of harming him badly", Hermione smiled at his protective gesture, "But he's back and that means something to me. It's just a matter of time, you know? For me to forgive him"

"I haven't forgiven him either", Hermione said seriously, "it's going to take me a while too. But we need his help and he's willing to be here. It does mean something."

"Yeah, he probably captured you with the story of your voice on the Deluminator", Harry said sarcastically. Hermione blushed and Harry felt his insides twitching.

"It still doesn't change anything", she answered. "Let's get back, I'm cold".

Harry nodded and offered her his arm so that they could return to the tent together.

* * *

After they talked with Ron, the three of them packed the tent and apparated a couple miles away from the Lovegood property. This was due to the fact that they didn't want to be seen in case it was invaded by death eaters or worse; that way they could spot the house from a safe distance; all Ron's idea.

_Is there anybody out there?_

It was a plain naked field full of snow where they had arrived. The sight was absolutely white and Harry wondered if a sight like that would embrace him the moment he'd died. There was nothing but snow there, not a tree, not a rock or structure, not even a trace of life ever been there, only the sun up in the sky exactly in the middle of it. And silence, an awkward silence for it lacked even the sound of the wind. It was as if it had been pulled out of an unfinished painting laying static and untouched on the room of an artist who had lost all his will to continue his work. Like finding yourself in the middle of an uncertain and unwritten life; your life. Harry suddenly felt all alone, not because there wasn't anybody there with him but because he knew in his heart that the three of them were alone on this journey. No matter how many people out there were willing to help, they could never do their part, the most important of all.

_Is there anybody out there?_

He had been standing there for quite a while and he hadn't noticed his companions' quickened paces. Harry started walking at a normal pace, feeling his boots plunging in the snow and he stared at his feet as they did. Lifting his head he saw that Ron and Hermione were quite ahead of him, walking side by side and chatting. For someone that hadn't forgiven her friend, she was taking things pretty lightly and it bothered Harry. He knew that he should do the same because Ron really looked willing to face hell and back again but he couldn't, not completely. It was the jealousy, most likely, that kept him from moving on.

_What shall we use to fill the empty spaces?_

"Weird place, huh?", said Ron.

"It looks… empty", said Hermione dismayed. She looked around and saw nothing but white. She wasn't normally an agoraphobic person but this unexpected view made her nervous. She turned to look and saw Harry staring blankly at the view, his face emotionless. "Ron, I thought we were apparating near the Lovegood's house".

"We are. This is just a field a couple of miles away", Ron answered, "it has been deserted for as long as I remember. You could build quite a place here... Maybe I'll build my house around here. It's not far from the Burrow, I'd could visit my parents for supper".

"Sure you could", said Hermione smirking and they started walking.

"In case you're wondering, I didn't take us to the village because I didn't want to be spotted by anyone. People around here know the Weasleys and it's not like my red-haired head will disappear if I wanted to", Ron said. "So, instead we're rounding the place".

"I still don't understand why you didn't take us closer", answered Hermione inquisitively.

Ron stopped and sighed, "Um, actually...", running a hand through his hair.

Hermione stopped and looked at him waiting, "Yes?"

"Um... I don't remember the place", he answered finally.

Hermione couldn't believe what she was hearing. "What?"

Ron was trying hard to avoid her gaze, "I don't remember! It's just that... I had never been there before and I have no idea where it is exactly. I guess where it is but I'm not sure", he said distressingly.

Hermione had her mouth clanging open and shook her head turning to walk again fast, "Unbelievable", she muttered.

Ron started running after her to reach her, "Oi! Don't be like that! I ended up there by mistake", he said desperately. It was true, he had intended to apparate to the Burrow that day and bumped into Luna instead.

Hermione ignored him and kept walking, "Anyway, I didn't want to take any chances and get splinched again. And I know this place, so it's safer", Ron continued.

Hermione said nothing but slowed her pace. Lately, Ron was pulling his brains out trying not to upset her more than she was. He was apologizing for everything even if he didn't have to. It was starting to be a bit annoying for Hermione but she had to recognize he was only trying to be polite, something he would had hardly done before. Hermione told to herself that she couldn't stay mad at him for all eternity; like she had said to Harry before, they needed his help and they had to rescue Luna, which was more important than any fight they could afford.

Nevertheless, her thoughts kept drifting to the uncomfortable position her two friends had put her in. With Ron gone, she could only wonder and maybe swallow in self-pity. But with him back, the question of the state of their relationship remained dissolved in the air. She still held feelings for him, there was no doubt of it, her heart had made a flip when he saw him that night on the forest; but were they strong enough to take the risk? And more importantly, was he willing to take that risk? On that moment, Ron looked at her and he did it with the same longing he had some months before, when they danced together on the wedding. He broke the visual connection and kept walking ahead, determined to find the Lovegood's place.

And then of course was Harry. If someone had asked a week earlier if she had non-platonic feelings for her best friend, she would have said no without hesitation. But she couldn't anymore. At one time during her school years, she realized that maybe one day she would fall for one of her friends (Harry being the most logical choice) and she did, but she never thought she would fall with _both_ of them. Harry, unlike Ron, had always treated her well, yet she couldn't quite say that he was aware of her all the time. It was as though he had got so used to having her around, that he subconsciously assumed that she would always be there. And maybe that had changed the day she had almost left the tent. Did he realize then that she was the girl that he couldn't afford to lose? But she couldn't let herself wonder if he felt something for her, Ginny was his girlfriend and he probably loved her and missed her more than he would ever do with Hermione.

She looked around trying to find him but he wasn't near. She got scared for a second until she spotted him a few meters behind them. He was staring at his feet and walking slower. She felt bad for him and had the urge to wrap her arms around his body but she held back and just waited for him to look up. He did, as if she had summoned him to, and she noticed a change on the way he looked at her, like there was some kind of vague sparkle on his eyes; it made her heart skip a beat. He gave her a small smile and fastened his speed to catch up with them.

"Where are we?", he asked.

"Ron brought us to a field some miles away from the Lovegood's house. He doesn't remember exactly where it is", Hermione said ironically.

Harry raised his eyebrows, "Then how are we going to find it?"

Ron turned around annoyed, "I already told you, Hermione. I know this place and I know it's not far from here. I can assure you that I'll recognize the house as soon as I see it".

"Fair enough", said Harry and they continue walking with Ron always ahead of them.

After probably five minutes, the sight started to fill with distant pines and what looked like a village. Ron stopped and pointed towards it, "That is Ottery St. Catchpole. You see that hill over there", he pointed at a hill on the extreme of the village, "it's Stoatshead Hill, where we met Diggory for the Quidditch World Cup".

Both Harry and Hermione nodded. Hermione looked at the opposite side of Stoatshead and saw what looked like the Burrow, almost hidden behind a couple of hills. She turned to look at Ron and saw him gazing sadly towards it.

"Ron", she said softly.

"Er, that's the Burrow", he said, "Luna's house should be that way".

Harry looked at the Burrow too. Since it was holidays, Ginny was probably there. He missed being at Ginny's house with its calmness and joyful ambient. He felt tempted to pay a visit but shook the idea from his mind when he saw Ron walking determinedly again.

They walked for around half and hour never getting to close to the village until they reached a hill. On top of the hill laid a vertically constructed house similar to a big black cylinder. Anyone who knew the Lovegood's would immediately guess it was theirs. Surrounding the house were gardens filled with all sorts of odd plants which seemed unaffected by the winter. The path leading to the front door was secured by a gate on which three signs were hanging up:

_The Quibbler. Editor: Xenophilius Lovegood_

_Pick your own mistletoe_

_Keep off the dirigible plums_

"Told you we were going to find it", yelled Ron triumphantly, he had got there first followed by Harry. "Dirigible plums. I knew Luna had mentioned them", and he laughed.

Hermione said nothing of the matter and climbed to the top of the hill too. Ron turned around and made them a sign to stop walking, "Alright, here's the thing. Mr. Lovegood must not know of our knowledge of Luna's disappearance. He never saw me so he doesn't know and we should keep it that way until he tells us all you want to ask him, Hermione".

"Since when did you replace Hermione's lead on the planning?", Harry asked amused. Hermione smacked him in the arm and Ron looked at him confused.

"I haven't. I've just thought about this for a while, I guess", he answered then kept his instructions, "Both of you are using the Invisibility Cloak and I'll approach the house to check we won't find any visit we don't want to meet".

"Why must we use the cloak?", asked Harry.

"Because it's too dangerous for us to take the risk of anyone spotting you", Hermione said, "we don't know what's in there".

"Yeah", Ron agreed, "and I live nearby, so he won't wonder what I'm doing here. Let's head there".

Harry and Hermione put the invisibility cloak around them and walked behind Ron, who opened the gate and headed through the path. Being that close to her, allowed Harry to inhale her scent. She wasn't wearing the perfume Ron had gifted her, in fact she wasn't wearing one at all. But it smelled nice and Harry loved it. While walking, she nearly tripped over and he had to wrap his arms around her waist to support her. Hermione jumped at his touch and nearly knocked them both but Harry held her tighter so they wouldn't.

Ron approached the front door and knocked. They waited for about two minutes but no one answered. "Hello? Nobody home?", Ron yelled. Still no answer.

Ron moved to the window and looked through it, "Hello? Is there anybody in there?", he asked once more. "I think I saw somebody", he whispered to them.

"Harry, I have a bad feeling about this", Hermione muttered to Harry underneath the cloak.

"It'll be ok", he answered assuredly but it didn't calm her.

_Did did did did you see the frightened ones?_

Ron returned to the door and was about to knock again, when a creak startled him and the door opened. Mr. Lovegood stood there rolling his eyes madly trying to locate the source of the disturbance of the silence that had consumed his whole house just some minutes before. He finally saw Ron behind the door.

"What is it? Who are you?", he asked violently.

"Mr. Lovegood, I'm Ron Weasley. I live nearby", Ron answered somewhat nervously.

Lovegood looked at him suspiciously, "What do you want?"

"Err, I meant to ask you about… the horned snerkle", Ron said spontaneously.

"You mean, the Crumple-Horned Snorkack", Lovegood answered.

"Yeah! That… thing. You seem to know about them and I was wondering if you could explain to me what they… are"

Mr. Lovegood looked more calm but stepped backwards, "Now's not a good time. Come back later", and he proceeded to close the door.

"Wait, Mr. Lovegood!", Ron exclaimed while holding the door to stop it from closing. The middle-age man opened it again and looked at Ron annoyingly.

"I, um, have someone with me", Ron said and then turned to make a gesture to Harry and Hermione. They took the cloak off.

"Hello, Mr. Lovegood. I'm Harry Potter, we met at a wedding some months ago", said Harry approaching him.

Lovegood was extremely surprised and stared at Harry not believing his eyes, "H-harry", he mumbled, "I wasn't expecting you", he looked around as if inspecting the place, "Come in, please" and he gestured them to enter the house.

* * *

The first thing they saw when they entered the house was the kitchen, it was perfectly circle-shaped and the walls were painted with strange flowers and insects, must likely Luna's work. On the middle of it was a spiral staircase, Mr. Lovegood climbed it and they followed. Upstairs, was a big room with books surrounding it along with odd objects that only the Lovegood's could know what they were.

"I think some tea would be nice. I'll excuse myself", said Mr. Lovegood and went downstairs to prepare the tea.

Harry looked around the room curiously while Ron and Hermione moved a bunch of rusty old chairs. It was an impressive room but it wasn't neat at all, it seemed as it nobody had bothered to clean it in many months. Mr. Lovegood had been so worried about his daughter and Harry couldn't blame him for forgetting to clean up the place.

"Crumple-Horned Snorkacks? Excellent idea, Ron", said Hermione giggling.

"First thing that came into my head", Ron said shrugging.

"I don't think he bought it, anyway", added Harry examining the bust of a beautiful and splendid witch wearing a weird-looking headdress. It had two golden ear trumpets, or so it seemed, on the sides; a pair of blue wings and one tiny orange radish, both stuck on a leather strap around her forehead. Despite the headdress, the witch held a touch of wisdom and sublimity on her eyes; it reminded Harry of the severe face of Professor McGonagall mixed with the glow that impregnated Hermione's face whenever she understood a remarkable matter.

"What is that?", asked Ron from his seat.

"It's Rowena Ravenclaw", answered Hermione, "but I don't think I have seen that diadem on her before".

"You're right, miss", said Mr. Lovegood carrying a tray with four cups and a teapot. He handed it to Ron, who almost let it fall but managed to balance it, and walked over to the statue next to Harry, "it's an invention of my own. The Wrackput siphons", he motioned to the ear trumpets, "to remove all sources of distraction from the thinker", he pointed at the pair of wings, "a billywig propeller, to induce an elevated frame of mind", and finally he pointed at the radish, "and the Dirigible Plum, like those around the house, to enhance the ability to accept the extraordinary", he finished smiling.

"Oh, the tea", he said and took the tray off Ron's hands, "it's an infusion of Gurdyroots that we make ourselves", pouring on each of their cups and handed them one, "Luna is not home, I'm afraid", his face turning severe, "She's off to the bridge".

The three friends exchanged a look of complicity and agreed not to say anything about Luna for now, "Mr. Lovegood. We're not here because of the Snorkacks", Hermione started.

"I figured as much. I wouldn't expect Harry Potter to care for this sort of things, certainly not now. I reckon you have more important things to worry about", he said nodding at Harry, "How may I help you, then?"

"Well, it's about a symbol you were wearing at Bill and Fleur's wedding, around your neck", Harry said imitating the necklace around his neck.

Ron made a sudden noise, he had taken a sip of the Gurdyroots' infusion and almost spit it out, "Sorry. It's a little strong", he excused himself.

Mr. Lovegood nodded again and pulled out a necklace that was hidden under his robes, "You mean this?", he asked.

"Yeah, that very same", answered Harry, "what does it mean?"

Mr. Lovegood smiled, "It's the sign of the Deathly Hallows, of course".

Harry turned to look at Hermione but she looked as puzzled as him, "The Deathly Hallows?", he asked.

"Indeed. I assume you're all familiar with the Tale of the Three Brothers", Mr. Lovegood asked.

"Yes", answered both Ron and Hermione.

"No", said Harry shaking his head.

"I guess we have some explaining to do, Mr. Potter", said Mr. Lovegood smirking, "The Deathly Hallows legend starts with this very tale. I have a copy somewhere around the room", he looked at the pile of disordered books and parchments.

"I've got a copy of it, Mr. Lovegood", interrupted Hermione and she pulled out the book entitled _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_ from her bag.

Lovegood stared at the book amused, "An original. Splendid, you should read it aloud, miss-"

"Granger. Hermione Granger", she completed.

"Oh, Luna has mentioned you a couple of times", he admitted and Hermione turned a shade of scarlet, "not in a bad way, of course".

Hermione said nothing and opened the book, she flipped the pages until she found the chapter containing the tale. She cleared her throat and started:

"_There were once three brothers who were traveling along a lonely, winding road at twilight-"_

"Midnight", Ron corrected, "my mom always said midnight", Hermione threw him a nasty look, "Sorry, twilight then. Less scarier, I suppose".

Hermione continued, _"In time, the brothers reached a river too deep to wade through and too dangerous to swim across. However, these brothers were learned in the magical arts, and so they simply waved their wands and made a bridge appear across the treacherous water. They were halfway across it when they found their path blocked by a hooded figure._

"_And Death spoke to them. He was angry that he had been cheated out of three new victims, for travelers usually drowned in the river. But Death was cunning. He pretended to congratulate the three brothers upon their magic, and said that each had earned a prize for having been clever enough to evade him._

"_So the oldest brother, who was a combative man, asked for a wand more powerful than any in existence: a wand that must always win duels for its owner, a wand worthy of a wizard who had conquered Death! So Death crossed to an elder tree on the banks of the river, fashioned a wand from a branch that hung there, and gave it to the oldest brother._

"_Then the second brother, who was an arrogant man, decided that he wanted to humiliate Death still further, and asked for the power to recall others from Death. So Death picked up a stone from the riverbank and gave it to the second brother, and told him that the stone would have the power to bring back the dead._

"_And then Death asked the third and youngest brother what he would like. The youngest brother was the humblest and also the wisest of the brothers, and he did not trust Death. So he asked for something that would enable him to go forth from that place without being followed by Death. And Death, most unwillingly, handed him over his own Cloak of Invisibility._

"Death has an Invisibility Cloak?", Harry asked interrupting.

"Yeah, when he gets bored of chasing them, he sneaks up on people and... sorry Hermione", said Ron.

"_Then Death stood aside and allowed the three brothers to continue their way, and they did so, talking with wonder of the adventure they had had, and admiring Death's gifts",_ Hermione read again.

"_In due course the brothers separated, each for his own destination._

"_The first brother traveled on for a week or more, and reaching a distant village, sought out a fellow wizard with whom he had a quarrel. Naturally, with the Elder Wand as his weapon, he could not fail to win the duel that followed. Leaving his enemy dead upon the floor, the oldest brother proceeded to an inn, where he boasted loudly of the powerful wand he had snatched from Death himself, and of how it made him invincible._

"_That very night, another wizard crept upon the oldest brother as he lay, wine-sodden, upon his bed. The thief took the wand and, for good measure, slit the oldest brother's throat. And so Death took the first brother for his own._

"_Meanwhile, the second brother journeyed to his own home, where he lived alone. Here he took out the stone that had the power to recall the dead, and turned it thrice in his hand. To his amazement and his delight, the figure of the girl he had once hoped to marry, before her untimely death, appeared at once before him._

"_Yet she was sad and cold, separated from him as by a veil. Though she had returned to the mortal world, she did not truly belong there and suffered. Finally the second brother, driven mad with hopeless longing, killed himself so as truly join her. And so Death took the second brother for his own._

"_But though Death searched for the third brother for many years, he was never able to find him. It was only when he had attained a great age that the youngest brother finally took off the Cloak of Invisibility and gave it to his son. And then he greeted Death as an old friend, and went him gladly, and, equals, they departed this life."_

Hermione closed the book having finished the narration, "Well, there you are. Those are the Deathly Hallows", Mr. Lovegood finally said and took one of the parchments from between the books of a shelf. He leaned on a table and extended the parchment on it, with a quill on the table he draw a vertical line, "The Elder Wand", then the drawing of a circle at the bottom of the line, "The Resurrection Stone", and a triangle enclosing them, "and the Cloak of Invisibility. Together they are the Deathly Hallows. Together they make one, Master of Death".

A silence filled the room after his last words. _Master of Death_. Harry could now understand why the Deathly Hallows were related to their journey, Voldemort deepest desire was to conquer death, by any means necessary. Harry got up from his seat and walked towards the window staring at the sky outside. It was late in the afternoon but the sun was shining and from the hill, the view was simply beautiful. Like the Earth hadn't noticed that a mad man was planning on destroying everything worth living for on this world. The cycle kept going.

He then heard Hermione clearing her throat once more and started speaking, "So, Mr. Lovegood, do you think the Deathly Hallows really exist?"

Harry turned around in order to catch the man's reaction. He didn't move but stared at Hermione curiously, "That's the real question, isn't it? Do they?", asked Mr. Lovegood back.

Hermione opened her mouth but decided to say nothing and let the man continue, "Many believe they do. They have searched them for centuries. Done everything to locate them. Even murder", he said turning to look at Harry. He returned the look with the same intensity.

Mr. Lovegood broke the eye-contact by standing up and started wandering in circles around the room calmly, "But they have all missed the true significance of the tale. It does not show us how to become 'immortal'. Instead, its narrative talks about how vague the attempts to conquer death truly are. It can't be stopped, for after all, we're only ordinary men".

"Yet, I have to admit that there isn't evidence that suggest otherwise. For all we know, _they could exist_", the man finished with a finger on his lips.

Hermione shook her head, "That is ridiculous. It is highly illogical to believe that they do. A stone that can resurrect the dead? It is a fairytale, Mr. Lovegood! Meant for children to believe in!", Hermione yelled desperately.

Mr. Lovegood stopped his whirl around the room and moved to her excitingly, "Yes, but there is people who believe in them. Those people, Miss Granger, would do everything in their power to find them. Think of the Elder wand, the most powerful wand claimed to have ever existed. Wizards from all times have fought for its ownership. Power is tempting but the consequences of seeking it, are greater. As you can see, fairytales are not only meant for children". The middle-aged wizard regained his posture and took his seat again.

Hermione seemed disturbed and defeated by the lead the conversation was taking. She sighed and proceeded her interrogation, "Mr. Lovegood, do the Peverells have anything to do with the Deathly Hallows?"

"Absolutely. They supposedly are the original owners of the hallows. Therefore, inspired the tale: Antioch, Cadmus and Ignotus", he answered. He then looked at the window and his expression changed to one of discomfort, "It's almost dusk. I have to go for Luna".

Ron decided to act on that moment and started saying, "But, Mr. Lovegood we already-", yet the man had swiftly walked down the stairs and disappeared from sight.

"He's mental, I tell you", said Ron sighing in defeat.

"We'll tell him when he comes back", assured Harry.

"Yeah", answered Ron, "what do you reckon is upstairs?". Just like above, in the middle of this room were stairs that led up.

"Probably their bedrooms", answered Harry without curiosity.

"Right", Ron got up from his chair for the first time and moved towards them climbing up.

"Ron, what are you doing?", asked Hermione panicking.

He stopped and looked at her smirking, "Luna's not here, she won't mind. And neither is her father. Besides, we could find something interesting there", and he finished climbing.

Hermione turned to Harry but he shrugged and followed Ron. Maybe he was right, after all.

"Harry!", yelled Hermione forced to follow them, "it's rude to look around when-", but she stopped as soon as she finished climbing.

Nothing could have prepared them for the sight that embraced them when they reached the room above. It was Luna's room. She had decorated the ceiling of her room with an extraordinary painting of five faces: Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Neville. They didn't move, they remained still like muggle's paintings, but they were magical all the same. Linking their faces were golden chains stretching around the painting. The chains were actually the repetition of one word: _friends_.

The three of them stared at the ceiling with mixed emotions. Ron kicked the bed on the middle of the room, angrily. It was perfectly neat, for Luna had not slept in her own bed in some time. Harry and Hermione said nothing and just left him pour out his anger; he seemed to be the most affected. Harry felt a rush of affection for Luna, of all people, she had been one of the most loyal friends he could ever thought of. He felt extremely impotent.

Ron calmed down a few seconds later and started wandering around the room. Next to the bed was a table, upon which laid a large frame containing a photograph. It showed Luna when she was merely a kid, hugging a young woman that resembled her greatly; her mother. Ron took the photo gently in his hands and examined it closer. He felt his eyes getting wet at the thought of imagining Luna alone, locked up somewhere, away from her father and her friends. He put down the frame fighting the tears and turned to Harry and Hermione.

"We're going to find her. I'll make sure of that", he said with determination and hurried down the stairs. Harry followed him immediately and Hermione looked once more at the ceiling, grateful at Luna, before going down as well.

Mr. Lovegood had returned and was trembling. He seemed so different from the man they had seen on the wedding, weird-looking but joyful and bright. Now, he had been consumed by fear and worry over his daughter. His face pale and his hair messier than Hagrid's. The spark of fascination that he shared with Luna was gone from his eyes and they were instead dark and deep.

Ron approached to the man firstly, "Mr. Lovegood", he said. The man kept trembling and fell to his knees horrified. "Mr. Lovegood, we know about Luna", Ron continued and kneeled getting closer to him. Ron put an arm on the man's shoulder, "we are willing to help you rescue her".

Mr. Lovegood shook his head violently and broke the grip of his tightened lips, "You can't help!", he yelled.

"Mr. Lovegood, _we_ _will help_", Ron said trying to calm him.

"But you have to tell us where they took her", added Hermione approaching him too.

"No, you don't understand!", he yelled again.

"Then explain to us, Mr. Lovegood", said Harry softly, "why did they take her?"

"They were mad, because of what I've been writing", he answered nervously, "they broke into the house but Luna was not here. She was outside trying to capture the dirigible plums", Ron nodded reminding how he had found her, "but she came back and they captured her despite my attempts to ease their anger".

He lifted his head and looked at Ron in the eye, "I don't know where she is", he cried.

Harry took a deep breath, "We can still search for her. She might be in Azkaban or-"

"There's only one way to rescue her", Mr. Lovegood interrupted.

"Which one, Mr. Lovegood?", asked Hermione.

He turned around and looked at Harry, "No matter who they take off the way, it's only you who they want, Harry", he got up and walked to him, "they said that if I hand you to them, they would return my Luna".

Harry took a step backwards horrified, "But I won't. She wouldn't forgive me if I did", Mr. Lovegood cried, "You're the only hope we have, Harry".

Ron got up to his feet and put a hand on Mr. Lovegood's shoulder again, "She's going to be fine, Mr. Lovegood. We'll do anything we can to get her", Mr. Lovegood turned to him, "I'm not going to let anything happen to Luna", said Ron, "I promise".

The man hugged Ron with force and the latter widened his eyes in amaze. "Thank you, Mr. Weasley", he broke the embrace and restrained himself, "Luna cares dearly for all of you. I'm glad she has friends like you".

"We are too", assured Hermione smiling.

Mr. Lovegood nodded and then looked at the window, "Merlin's Beard, it's getting dark!", he exclaimed then motioned to them, "you must all leave at once! They'll be here any second".

Hermione flipped her wand to clean up the teacups and teapot and moved them away from view, "Smart thinking, Miss Granger. You're truly a remarkable witch", Hermione blushed at the comment and the four went downstairs to the kitchen.

Mr. Lovegood opened the door and they got out. They looked at him once more before leaving and he spoke to them, "Good luck on your journey. I hope you find my daughter and I think you will. I cannot thank you enough for everything you've done for her and I wish I could have helped you more".

"You did", said Harry frankly, "goodbye".

He took Hermione's hand and then Ron's and they disapparated.

* * *

They were now on some woods with gigantic trees.

"Where should we head next?", asked Ron. "Azkaban?"

"Azkaban is exactly where you're being taken", said a cold voice behind them.

_Together we stand, divided we fall…_

_

* * *

_

**_So, work is done._**

**_A thing that helped me out regaining my enthusiasm was that I attended the best concert ever last Sunday. I went to see Roger Waters (Pink Floyd, for those who don't recognize his name) presenting "The Wall" and it's probably the best concert I have seen. Beyond anything I can describe. Based on that, maybe you'll notice some references I added to songs on the album, like "Goodbye Blue Sky", "Hey You" and two more. Might be weird to mix Floyd and Harry but I couldn't help myself hehe._**

**_On other matters, I changed some things like I always do. First of all, I always thought that Rowling painted Mr. Lovegood on a cruel way. If my daughter was at risk, I would have done the same that he did in the book and it's completely understandable. But here, I wanted to show him as a man resembling Luna in character; it means that he knows that Luna would disapprove of him betraying Harry for her and instead he understands that no matter what he does, the death eaters would probably erase Luna and him off the map even if he helps them. I think it's quite logical to suppose that; they're death eaters after all._**

**_Also, I worked on Ron's softer side (hard to do it, trust me) and I hope I have helped you dislike him less. I know, you'll understand why I did it hehe (this goes for lycus, Gloria and GenoBeast :P). And I thank those who support my idea (like my super Naruto fan loyal reader and DarkPhoenix101). But thank you all for keeping reading this fic, it's really stimulating._**

**_I hope I can write something for Christmas. I have a fluff fic that jumped into my mind yesterday but I'll have to see if I have time to write it down. If not, I would like to wish all a Merry Christmas. Remember it's not about the presents but the people around you that care for you and you care back. Enjoy the holidays and see you next chapter! :)  
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	9. Unexpected Matters

_**Hi everybody. This is chapter 9. I hope you all enjoy it and if you don't, don't hesitate to let me know.**_

_**Disclaimer: A new year and I still don't own Harry. Pity on me.**_

_**Note: **__**Corrections were made and I added some things, mainly explanations, as requested by some readers. I was about to write chapter 10 but it's half-past one and I'm really tired so I will start working on it tomorrow. I won't promise to finish it, though, some things I have to take care of and such. If there are still mistakes, please let me know, I really appreciate it since I don't have a beta reader (and I don't want to get one, I rather have you readers out there telling me your opinion, which I think it's much more reliable and I don't have to stand someone's criticism lol)**_

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**Chapter 9 - Unexpected Matters**

"_Where should we head next?", asked Ron, "Azkaban?"_

"_Azkaban is exactly where you're being taken", said a cold voice behind them._

Ron froze at the sound of the cold voice with his eyes wide open. The three of them turned around. A few meters away, stood a young man. He had long curly black hair and a Van Dyke styled beard. His eyes were dark and the smirk on his lips made his face look devilish. Nevertheless, his young features contrasted the darkness of his eyes making him less scary. It reminded Harry of a grown-up Draco Malfoy.

"Snatcher", panted Ron.

The young man smiled wider at this while walking slowly to them with his wand raised, "Very good, smart boy", he said, "now if you identify yourself, we might make this chat more interesting".

"Let's start with the young lady here", he walked closer to Hermione looking at her almost lustfully. Hermione looked away disgusted. Like before, on the Lovegood's property, she had the terrible feeling that something awful was about to happen. The snatcher didn't seem much of a challenge but she sensed that he was not quite the real surprise they were to encounter..

Harry, on the other hand, took out his wand almost instantly and pointed it to the man's face, "Don't even think about it".

"Easy. I just want to check if your name's on the list. After that you can have the girl for yourself", he said to Harry without taking his eyes off Hermione, "or maybe not".

"_Expelliarmus!",_ the wand of the snatcher jumped through the air before being caught by Ron who had casted the spell taking the opportunity of his distraction. It surprised both Harry and Hermione how much Ron had improved lately, his reactions were fast but right as a result of having spent a considerable amount of time by himself, avoiding snatchers and other dangers.

The snatcher turned around to Ron after a hard growl, "You boy! Give me back my wand or I'll make sure you really go to Azkaban", he said with fire burning in his eyes.

Ron grinned and the three of them pointed their wands to the snatcher, "Are you sure about that? It seems to me that we have outnumbered you", Ron told him.

The snatcher looked to each of them and the arrogance of his face was replaced with absolute fear. He backed a few steps but was followed by the lifted wands of the three teenagers. Unexpectedly, a loud bang was heard a few yards away and the three of them turned around jumping towards the sound. The snatcher took his chance to run away on the opposite direction of the noise. Ron didn't stop to think twice and growling, he ran too, chasing him.

"Ron!", Hermione shouted surprised but he didn't stop and kept his hunt. She looked at Harry, who was just as surprised, before they too followed Ron.

Some yards away, Ron had almost reached the snatcher and they saw him as he jumped ferociously tackling the man. "_Ahhh!_". By the moment Harry and Hermione had caught up with Ron, he had taken the snatcher by the collarbone and had pinned him against a tree.

"Not so arrogant now, huh?", asked Ron furiously, "Now, I want you to tell us what you know about Luna Lovegood's whereabouts".

The snatcher looked frightened as ever, just like Malfoy had looked when Hermione punched him on their third year. "Wh-who?", he answered, "I don't know what you mean".

"Don't play on me!", shouted Ron and the snatcher closed his eyes in fear. Hermione looked horrified at Ron and Harry knew why. His aggressive manners resembled one of a death eater. The war had changed them. He could see it in both of his friend's eyes. Ron seemed so determined to find Luna that he didn't care if that meant to torture people. Were they really forced to reach that extreme?

"Ron", said Hermione again but more softly. Ron seemed to calm at the sound of her voice, he lowered the rhythm of his excited breathing gradually but he kept his wand on the snatcher's throat.

The snatcher looked at Hermione almost gratefully, "You mean the daughter of that maniac who ran the Quibbler, right?", he asked gasping. Ron said nothing to him, but Hermione nodded, for the snatcher was still looking at her.

"I-I don't know where she is. We didn't take her, it was the death eaters. But I can assure you she's not in Azkaban", he replied. Harry feared the worst, if Luna wasn't in control of the Ministry, it could only mean that the death eaters had taken her to Voldemort or his closest followers; he had suspected so but he didn't want to mention it to his friends. Ron was eager to find Luna and he had committed to that mission with zeal. Harry didn't want to tear his friend's faith apart, or his own.

Yet, despite of what the snatcher had said, Ron didn't seem to buy a word and he sunk his wand deeper onto his throat, "And why should I believe you?"

"Because I've been to Azkaban!", the snatcher cried, "She's – not – there". Ron took a long breathe and Harry watched as the disappointment started to fill his eyes.

Suddenly, another bang was heard nearby and the three jumped again. Scared, Hermione looked at Harry and then to Ron, "Ron, we should get out of here", she said softly, hiding the panic on her voice. Ron lowered his wand and let go of the snatcher.

"You should listen to her", the snatcher said. Harry looked at him, the smirk had returned to his lips. Ron pinned him against the tree again, somehow scared about what he had said.

"Duke!", a distant voice shouted and the blood of their veins, froze. Harry turned around, from a distance he could see several amount of figures walking towards them from different places, surrounding them. "Did you find anything?", the same voice called.

The snatcher held by Ron started laughing, "Here!", he shouted and then said to Ron, "Who's outnumbered now, boy?"

Ron let go of him and shouted at his friends, "Run!"

At his words, Harry reached for Hermione's hand and dragged her with him. The three of them started running as fast as they could away from the snatchers.

"Duke! What hap-", a voice asked.

"No time to lose! They went over there. Took my wand!", the young snatcher shouted.

The hunt began. Harry could hear the heavy sounds of the snatcher's feet hitting the ground, they were now chasing them. The charmed bag Hermione was carrying fell midway but they didn't look back. They couldn't take the risk of getting it back. Ron was a small distance away taking quick glances back to make sure his friends were still behind him. The woods felt like a maze of equally-looking trees and the dark figures of snatchers between them. Stunning spells hit the trees from time to time and the birds flew away distancing themselves from the hunt occurring below. Hermione held onto to Harry's hand as if her life depended on it and both of them managed to stun a few snatchers.

The snatcher they had encountered first showed up from behind a tree grabbing him by the shoulder. They struggled savagely and Harry ran to his friend to help him. But a green light passed in front of his face towards Ron. Harry stopped frozen with his eyes open like plates and witnessed the scene: Ron turned around right on time and saw terrified, the green light coming to him, he barely dodged it and instead ended up hitting the young snatcher on the chest. He fell backwards dead. Horrify, Ron jumped backwards avoiding the body of the dead snatcher.

"Greyback! You hit Duke, you son of a-", shouted a voice a few yards away.

Ron looked at Harry for a second before they both started running again, Harry still grasping Hermione's hand. She had apparently missed the scene, must likely because Harry's body hid it, and Harry was grateful she had. The snatchers were getting closer and they were forced to dodge and counter-spell their jinxes. Harry felt he could run no further, his lungs aching for the lack of air; yet, feeling Hermione's hand on his gave him strength to keep going.

He suddenly felt Hermione's fingers slipping away and he turned around to find her facing down the soil, she had stumbled on a tree-root stuck out from the earth but lightly covered by snow. With her hands bearing her weight, she lifted her head to meet Harry's scared features, she looked back, noticed the dangerous closeness of the snatchers and wasting no time, pulled her wand out and aimed at Harry's face. Confused, the boy got hit by the spell she had casted and fell backwards driven by its power. Hermione saw her raven-haired friend laying on the snow and she hoped her improvised plan would work.

Harry's face tickled, a funny feeling he had to admit. For a moment, he forgot what was happening around him, he was only aware of the odd but nice movements underneath the skin of his face. Harry brought a hand to his cheek and noticed that the original form of his face was changing dramatically. Then the tickle was replaced by pain as the new shape stabilized and Harry's eyes sunk making him unable to see clearly. The pain brought him back to reality and he got up from the ground. He saw a blurry figure in front of him and felt someone taking his glasses off, the figure had seemingly bushy hair and he concluded it was Hermione. Yet, he could not visualize the distant between them and he moved his arms to the front trying to reach her. But more blurry figures appeared and two of them dragged the one he had recognized as Hermione back.

He was about to shout her name when someone encircled him from behind and pulled him back with violent force. Next to him, a couple of snatchers were struggling with a red dot he knew was Ron. "Get – off - me!", he heard Ron gasping. Then he heard the sound of punching and Ron shouted in pain.

"Leave him alone!", shouted Hermione.

"As soon as he learns how to behave", said one of the snatchers holding Ron. He kicked Ron in the stomach and he stopped struggling. Harry tried to release himself but the snatcher was too strong and his own strength was visually reduced by his inability to see.

Hermione was having no better luck and she fought to escape as she watched blood coming out from Ron's mouth. She tried to release her arm to take her wand but one of the snatchers took it first and he kept it on the pocket of his worn-out jacket.

"Good boy", the same snatcher that had kicked Ron said, messing Ron's hair with his left hand. Ron glared at him and spit a small amount of blood on the snatcher's face, who dodged it.

"Woo", the snatcher exclaimed and the rest laughed, "keep your mouth's shut, the rest of you", he said to the gang. He was shorter than Ron and thin, but he was stronger nonetheless, his light bear and his hair worn tied, made him look different from the rest of the snatchers, somehow brighter and definitely cleaner. The rest of them were a mere bunch of fat, ugly, stupid-looking men who probably had a hard time telling the difference between a goat and a sheep.

Another snatcher, who was apparently closer to Harry, gave a loud snort and approached Ron, "So, the ginger here wants to play rough?". Harry froze, he knew that throaty voice: Fenrir Greyback, the werewolf who had bitten Lupin and Bill.

Hermione lifted her head at the sound of that raspy voice. Before her, a tall and corpulent man was staring at Ron with his back turned at her. Yet, she recognized the body full of thick black hair as the one belonging to the death eater Greyback. Her heart started pounding faster; this was what she had feared all day long.

"Not so fast, Greyback. Duke's death is still fresh in my mind so you better step back and let me handle this", said the first snatcher and Greyback did as he was told reluctantly.

"So, where were we?", asked the snatcher, who appeared to be leader of them.

"You were about to ask him his name and then check the list", said the snatcher that was holding Ron by the neck.

"Why bother, Scabior?", asked Greyback from a distance, "there's surely something suspicious about having a bunch of teenagers wandering around these woods. They're up to no good"

The leader addressed as Scabior, turned around annoyed at the new interruption, "For all we know, Greyback, they could be the minister's daughter lost cousins!", he took a breath and continued, "Now, I don't want to be send up to Azkaban for imprisoning the wrong people. We ask and check the list".

"Azkaban?", snorted Greyback, "like you couldn't escape from there". It was true, with the dementors no longer guarding the place but rather scaring people at Voldemort's orders, most people could escape from there at their wish.

Scabior ignored the death eater and turned to Ron, "What's your name, kid?", he asked. Ron didn't answer and just stared at the floor, "The mice ate your tongue?". Still, Ron refused to answer or even look at him. "Hmm, never mind".

"Let's see over here", Scabior walked around and spotted Harry, "Oh lord, you're repulsive!", he stepped back and called the gang, "Look at this one, fellows. I think we have found Fenrir's closest rival, almost as bad looking as him". The gang burst into laughter and Harry was pushed forward by the man holding him. Unable to balance himself due to the lack of visibility, he fell to the ground on his knees. Harry could only spot the circling figures of the snatchers around him, he tried to follow them trying to figure out where his friends were but he couldn't quite picture them, instead he could only guess judging by the sound of Ron's hard breathing. He knew the snatchers were laughing at his face and he guessed it was all part of a last-minute plan Hermione had set up, a rather painful one.

Scabior knelt besides Harry, "So ugly, what do they call you?"

"Dudley", answered Harry. First name that popped into his head, "Vernon Dudley".

Scabior shook his head, "Even your name is disgusting. Guess some of us are not born with luck", he grinned at this while standing up.

He then turned to Hermione and pointed at the snatchers to bring her closer, "And what about you, girly?", Hermione tried to avoid his look at all cost, "Oh don't be shy, we don't bite"

"You can say that again", said the gloating voice of Greyback. He was now next to Harry and it made Harry's insides wring in panic.

"Don't mind him, pretty. Tell us your name", said the snatcher.

"Penelope Clearwater. Half-blood", she said confidently but Harry sensed a trace of terror on her voice. She was playing along with Harry's idea and lied about her identity. The snatchers couldn't know who they had in their power and if they convinced them accurately, they would probably let them go with nothing further to say.

"And what exactly are you doing out here, Pen?", asked Greyback walking towards her.

"We're students at Hogwarts", she answered, "but we left because we rather be home with our families". Harry was surprised at how fast she could come up with these ideas. That was Hermione, fastest thinker ever.

"How sweet", Scabior exclaimed attempting to make a voice very much like Umbridge's. "And your red-haired boyfriend, what is his name? We need to check it out".

"Oliver Wood", she said, "and he's not my boyfriend", she added. Now was probably not the time to give unnecessary explanations but she felt obliged to clear the situation. Given the nature of the snatchers, they wouldn't hurt Ron or Harry if they thought the relation between them was vague.

"Don't tell me your boyfriend is that ugly lad over there!", another snatcher exclaimed. Hermione said nothing at this and Harry's heart flipped, "Girls nowadays have no sense of self esteem". Hermione couldn't help but blush and she was grateful that Harry couldn't quite see her.

"Stop chatting and check the list, Drusus", ordered Scabior.

The snatcher pulled a long parchment and ran through it reading the names written, "Nothing. They're not here", answered Drusus after coming to the end of the parchment.

Scabior sighed and then told Greyback, "See? I told you it was better to check they weren't on the list. And they aren't", he smirked.

Greyback, however, looked closer at Hermione, "I'm not so sure about that. I think I recognize the girl's face from somewhere". Harry's blood started pumping in his ears; he hoped they wouldn't be discovered. "Wolfe, hand me over the Prophet you always carry!".

The Prophet? Was the Ministry looking for her too? Hermione looked at where the snatchers were holding Ron and she tried to catch his eye in case he knew why Greyback wanted to see that particular newspaper. Ron looked up shaking his head and Hermione's heart sunk as she saw the terror on his eyes.

Another snatcher rumbled around a bag and finally pulled out the newspaper the werewolf wanted. Greyback flipped the pages and let out a shout of triumph, "Here! _Hermione Granger, the mudblood who is known to be traveling with Harry Potter_", he grinned and showed Scabior the photograph. _That was it, they had been discovered_, thought Harry, it wouldn't take a brilliant person to figure out who was him.

"No! That's not me! I told you I'm-", cried Hermione.

"Save it, girl. This picture looks a hell lot like you", said Scabior, "what about the others?", he asked addressing at Greyback.

Greyback pointed at Ron, "The ginger must be a Weasley"

"How can you tell?", asked another snatcher.

Greyback merely laughed at the question, "I bit one of them last year". Ron struggled harder under the snatcher's embrace. His emotions were full of anger as he remembered his brother, Bill, who would never be the same again because of the death eater. Greyback looked at him knowing exactly that he had hit a vein, Ron's visible anger had confirmed his suspicion.

Finally, Greyback turned to the last boy: Harry, "And this one has to be Potter".

"How can it be? Doesn't look at all like him", asked the Wolfe snatcher and the others agreed.

"He probably caught something on the chase. But I'm sure it's him", replied Greyback. He then moved the flip of dark hair that was covering Harry's deformed scar. At the touch, Harry felt agonizing pain but he forced himself not to show it, "Look at his scar".

Scabior took a step to the center to take a better look, "Yeah, it could be"

"Are we taking them to the Minister, then?", asked a new snatcher.

"No! We're taking them to the headquarters", shouted Greyback. The rest of the snatchers, including Scabior, didn't look quite pleased by the sudden change of plan, they were somehow reluctant to follow. _What did it mean that they were being taken to the headquarters? Wherever it was, it was surely worse than Azkaban or the Minister._

"Alright, scum, blind the boys and tie them up", Scabior ordered the rest of the snatchers.

Harry, who was still laying with his knees on the ground, got punched in the ribs by one of the snatchers. The snatcher tied his hands and put a blindfold on his eyes, now he couldn't see anything at all. He heard the other snatchers tying up Ron and Hermione. She was screaming and struggling as well as Ron. Harry was about to shout her name but he suddenly felt a piece of rag being put on his mouth, making him unable to emit a sound. A pair of strong arms took him by the shoulders and dragged him a few metters, his ankles painfully hitting the ground repeatedly. Darkness was all he could see...

* * *

Harry felt a strong pull and his feet were lifted up from the ground; he knew they had disapparated. He felt the solid soil again below him and the snatcher carrying him took off the blindfold covering him. Although his eyes were still puffy, Harry could now see the place they had being taken to. They were by a pair of tall and black iron gates. On both sides, the gates were surrounded by elaborate garden-walls and the passage between the two walls was quite narrow. Harry tried to find Hermione but she was behind him and he couldn't turn around to attempt to see her. On the front, Scabior shook the gate and a second later, took a step back whipping his hands away, for the iron had twisted forming a long frightening face who spoke: "_State your purpose!_"

The whole gang backed away surprised by the voice, all except Greyback who in turn stated: "We've come to meet the masters of the house for an imminently important matter". The iron twisted again back into its original form but the gates did not move. After a couple of minutes, a dark blurry distant figure started moving from behind the gate, it was moving closely.

"What, may I ask, is the reason for your unwelcomed presence here, dear Fenrir?", asked the voice of a woman, who made Harry's heart and panic grow a hitch higher than it already was. The woman walked closer and stood right behind the iron surface examining the gang before her. Her figure was blurry but Harry could recognize the curly dark hair falling from her head to almost her waist.

"We've got Potter!", exclaimed Greyback with excitement and cruelty.

Bellatrix Lestrange stared dumbfounded at Greyback, opening and closing her mouth. Greyback made a sign to the snatcher next to Harry and the latter pushed him towards the gate. Greyback caught Harry by the collarbone and dragged him closer to allow Bellatrix to see him. She leant through the gap of the gate and Harry felt the werewolf's hideous hand removing a flock of hair of his forehead, Greyback's nails rasping the skin underneath. He felt sick at the werewolf's touch and his putrid scent reaching his nose.

"Let them through", he heard Bellatrix whisper. She took several agitated steps backwards and shouted, "Let them through!"

A black aura surrounded the gate and imploded seconds later. The gate remained still and the snatchers looked at it confused for it hadn't open. Greyback, on the contrary, walked calmly to the gate and went through, as if it was just a mere veil of darkness, transforming himself into smoke. The snatchers saw Greyback on the other side and now certain, followed him with Scabior leading them.

Hermione was being dragged by Scabior, who did not trust the other snatcher's intentions and decided to better keep an eye on her himself. In front of Hermione, behind the gate, was a handsome looking manor with tall towers on each extreme. It was perfectly symmetric and she supposed it would have been rather beautiful, had it not been for the dark aura that it emitted. Yet more than obscure, it seemed sad, like the years of magnificence had passed leaving a mere trace of splendor on the building. Hermione turned her head to the sides as much as she was able, for her hands were tightly tied up on her low back. She noticed two large gardens at the sides of the road leading to the manor's door. Like the manor, they had a shade of astonishing beauty and were carefully decorated with a fountain in the middle, but the flowers had withered and there was no water running on the fountain. She imagined it had once been the happy house of a rich and proud family that had now been reached by the war like the rest of the magic world.

Greyback had called the place 'the headquarters' and she supposed it was the house of one of the death eaters. When she saw the place, she suspected it was the manor of the Malfoy family; there seemed to be no other reason for Bellatrix to reside there, she was after all, Narcissa Malfoy's sister. And judging by the physical appearance of the manor, it was more than likely. A white shape interrupted her thoughts by passing on the upper-right side of the road, on the garden; it was a white peacock which stood on the hedge staring at the passing of the crowd before him. His majestic tail was laying fallen as though he could sense beforehand the unleashing of events that would happen next. He looked at Hermione and their eyes connected for a moment, the look of the peacock was warning but also assuring and she felt a strange relief on her heart.

Hermione's suspicions of the manor's owners were clarified when she saw Narcissa Malfoy opening the wooden door of the house. She looked surprised at the snatchers and swayed her way out of the manor leaving the door slightly open. She turned to face her sister and asked her, "What is the meaning of this?"

Bellatrix smiled at her and answered, "You'll see when we get inside".

Narcissa looked at her suspiciously but opened wide the door for the snatchers and their prisoners to enter, "Come on in". She guided them to a hall; it was large and white and on the walls hung a considerable amount of portraits, probably Malfoy's ancestors. The people on the portraits all look at the unexpected visitors with mistrust, particularly at Greyback, but said nothing. Narcissa led the way to a room on the left, which they all entered. It was a big drawing room but the table and chairs were laying on the extreme next to the windows, apparently moved by some reason. On the center of the drawing room, a large chandelier was hanging from the roof. The only light on the room was the one coming from the crescent moon outside but it was enough to allow Hermione take note of it.

Narcissa spoke to her sister, "Are you going to tell me what's going on, now?"

Greyback let go of Harry and pushed him for another snatcher to hold. "Narcissa, I hadn't seen you in a long time", he attempted to take her hand but she backed away disgusted. Greyback was obviously unpleased but made an effort not to make it evident, "I have just told your sister that we have captured Potter".

Narcissa's disgust at Greyback was replaced by a look of curiosity and could it be… hope?. "Are you sure?", she asked alarmed.

"We're not… yet", answered Scabior from behind Hermione.

"Then how come you just happen to show up to my house if you're not certain?"

"Cissy", whispered Bellatrix, "Draco knows the boy very well. They go to school together. Bring him here and he'll tell us if it's the right one".

Narcissa seemed reluctant at the mention of her son but had no other option. "Dobby!", she called.

Harry almost jumped when he heard Narcissa calling Dobby. He couldn't see him but he heard him answering, "Yes, miss?"

"Go to Draco's room and tell him to come downstairs. Quickly!", Narcissa ordered. The house-elf obeyed and disappeared.

Harry didn't understand. He had freed Dobby but he was still under the Malfoy's command. What was he doing there? He was supposed to be working on the kitchens of Hogwarts. But Hogwarts wasn't safe anymore, Snape was the headmaster now and maybe he had recognized Dobby and sent him back to the family he supposedly belonged with.

Greyback was looking at the place with curiosity and fun, it was probably the first time he had ever entered the manor. He may be a death eater but he was never as high on rank as his other partners; being a hybrid creature, the Dark Lord would never dream of pairing him up with the rest and he didn't trust his loyalty completely.

"I thought the Dark Lord would be receiving us himself", Greyback said questioningly.

Greyback's statement had taken Bellatrix by surprise and she took several seconds to reply, "The Dark Lord is taking care of some important matters. He will be absent for some time".

Greyback chuckled, "And what 'matters' might they be? Leaving the country on these days…"

"We mustn't question the Dark Lord's decisions!", shouted Bellatrix scandalized.

"Is that your way of saying you don't what these matters are?", Greyback replied grinning. Hermione couldn't help grinning herself at the perplexed face of Bellatrix. The dark witch said nothing but gave Greyback a look that could have pretty much killed him if it had been for her.

After a minute or two, the door of the drawing room opened and a white-blond haired middle-aged man appeared from behind it. His eyes wandered around the room registering the people filling it. Lately, he had got used to having visitors but none of them were vile snatchers.

"What are you doing in my house?", he asked commandingly.

No one answered him but he received a glare from each snatcher and from Ron and Hermione as well. The door opened for a third time and a much younger copy of Lucius Malfoy showed up. Little was left of the arrogant boy Harry, Ron and Hermione had met on school. The smirk on his face was no longer there, instead he was looking at everyone in the room with fear. His once handsome face had grown a frown of worry and it seemed as if ten years had passed since the last time they had seen him. He was even more pale and skinny and his eyes were red; he had probably cried on the past days.

His eyes spotted Hermione and he shook his head in disbelieve. Then he saw Ron being held by a large man and another boy with a deformed face also held as prisoner. He connected the pieces almost immediately.

Lucius noticed the curiosity and astonish on his son's eyes and followed his gaze. He turned to see Ron and recognized him as he did so.

"But what do we have here?", he asked amused, "a Weasley in person", he smirked, "I thought that tale of the spattergroit was a pathetic lie. Arthur should have been cleverer when covering his son". For the second time that day, Ron struggled at the mention of his family trying to free himself but the snatchers were stronger and they gave him a punch on the ribs. Hermione stifled and it draw Lucius' attention on her.

"And this one here is that Granger girl", he looked to Draco questioningly and the latter nodded. "Interesting".

"They think the one over there is Potter", said Narcissa to his husband who turned at the spot she had pointed. Being held by the werewolf Fenrir Greyback, was a thin, raven-haired young man with his knees against the cold floor of the room; his face, though, was tremendously deformed, as if it had been swollen by some kind of allergic reaction. Had it not been for the companions he was carrying, Lucius would have never guessed his true identity, yet it was clear it was indeed Harry Potter.

Bellatrix motioned to Draco to come closer to her, "Draco, sweetie, come here", he followed his aunt confused. She gripped his hand and drove him to the place where Harry was standing. Greyback pulled his hair up to reveal the 'scar' on his forehead. "Is it him, Draco?"

Draco looked at Harry's eyes and Harry was sure he knew it was him. It was all doomed for them. But surprisingly enough, Draco answered, "I can't tell".

"I don't think you see the panorama here, Draco. If we are the ones to deliver Potter to the Dark Lord, he'll filled us with honors", she said excitedly and then calmed, "He'll forgive every mistake done in the past", she finished referring to his family failures at fulfilling Voldemort's requests.

"Now, we won't forget who actually caught him, would we?", asked Scabior warningly.

"How dare you!", yelled Bellatrix and Scabior backed letting go of Hermione as he did so.

Draco looked at Harry's scar again, "I don't see any reason to suspect that he is not the real Potter", said Lucius Malfoy, "The snatchers found Weasley and the Mudblood. They're hardly ever away from Potter. It is like Potter has grown a couple of bugs that follow him endlessly". The snatchers laughed hard at this.

"I-I don't know", said Draco again.

Bellatrix looked at him pityingly and then addressed to Greyback, "What happened to his face?"

"When we caught him, he was already on that state", he answered truthfully.

"Someone must have jinxed him", she said suspiciously and then looked at Ron and Hermione.

Draco looked down at Harry's eyes for a second and then got up, "I don't think it's him", he said.

"What?", asked Lucius astonished.

"Um, maybe it's a trap!", Draco exclaimed uncertain, "they left the boy here for you to capture while the real Potter is out there somewhere. That would explain why his face was jinxed". Harry was having a hard time believing Malfoy was actually lying and making up improvised excuses. What was he playing at? Did he really not recognize him or was he lying on purpose? And if he was, why was he doing it?

"More like his friends did it!", said Bellatrix, "did you do it, dear?", she asked Ron.

"Weasley's too stupid to plan something that requires intelligence", answered the older Malfoy, "it was probably the girl".

Bellatrix turned to Hermione and walked towards her, "Was it you, then, my dear?", she asked and Hermione closed her eyes in fright. "We will see once I spill out the last spell casted by her wand!", she brought her face mere inches away from Hermione's but suddenly, something else caught her attention. Hermione, noticing Bellatrix sudden change of interest, followed her gaze and turning around she saw what had driven the woman's attention: behind Scabior, the snatcher named Wolfe was holding a long bright silver sword while playing with it, Gryffindor's word. The walls of the room could have pretty much crumbled on top of her as she realized how doomed they would be if Bellatrix knew exactly what was right in front of her. But Hermione was wandless and she had no way of setting her friends and herself free, so she could only watch terrified as the evil woman stared at the sword shocked.

"What is that?", asked Bellatrix.

"A sword", Wolfe answered grinning.

"I know what it is!", she yelled furiously, "Where did you get it?"

"I found it. It is mine", he answered.

"Give it to me!", ordered Bellatrix.

"No", said Wolfe and took the sword in his arms protecting it.

"_Stupefy!_", she aimed at the snatcher and a red light hit him.

"What are you playing at, woman?", asked another snatcher.

More red lights were shot from Bellatrix's wand and the snatchers were forced to flee their way out of the house. All except Greyback. Bellatrix had taken the sword on her hands and was gripping it tightly, "Where did they get the sword?", she asked, "Snape sent it to my vault in Gringotts!"

Her vault? The sword had been originally in Bellatrix's vault? Hermione could not believe what she was hearing. From his place, Ron found her face and looked at her startled but she was clueless this time. She had been so happy when she saw Harry returning with the destroyed locket and they had been so busy with other matters, that she had never thought of questioning herself why the sword had appeared at the bottom of that precise lake. It was clearly not a coincidence, someone had to put it right there, maybe even for them to find. Then that someone must have stolen it from the vault! But it had to be a really powerful wizard or witch, breaking into Gringotts was almost an impossible mission and the odds of succeeding were infinitely low. She tried not to think of Dumbledore, he was dead, he couldn't possibly - Unless it was someone who could get it easily, someone with access to the vault. But who could that be? Hermione thought of all this possibilities in no more than a minute, and when she got back to the present, Bellatrix was still questioning the werewolf.

"It was among the things we took from the kids, I swear!", Greyback shouted back.

"You better be telling the truth!", she screamed warningly, "Wormtail!"

A short blonde man appeared from behind the door, "Drag this scum out of the manor!", she motioned to the unconscious snatchers who had got hit by the stunning spells. Pettigrew obeyed and forcefully got the men out.

"Now we're going to find out who stole the sword out of my vault. And if the boy is really Potter", she said turning to Hermione again. "Wormtail!", she called again and the man returned, "take the two boys down to the cellar with the other prisoners. I want to have a nice chat with her, girl to girl!"

Harry panicked and tried to stand up, the rag on his mouth fell to his neck as he moved his head back violently. "No!", he shouted, "Leave her!"

Hermione had never been so scared in her entire life. She saw as Greyback approached Ron who tried to jump away from him with his hands tied and his mouth covered. From behind, Lucius cornered him and pushed him towards Greyback, the movement allowed his rag to fall just like Harry's. Bellatrix started walking closer to Hermione, each of her steps were marked by the sound of her heels hitting the tile of the floor, like the march of a clock ticking backwards. Hermione took steps away from her, trying to stay stood, but she fell to her knees, with her hands tied on her back. Bellatrix pointed her wand at her face and she grinned, making Hermione feel pathetically defenseless before her. She turned to where she had last seen Harry and she saw him crawling forcefully on the floor, looking for her with his eyes swollen. Her eyes started filling up with tears at the sight of him and it mixed with the fear pulsating on the veins of her entire body making the most horrifying feeling ever. Yet, Wormtail hadn't moved, he was standing still on the right corner of the room looking at Harry on the floor. His inactivity caused Bellatrix to look away from Hermione and at him.

"Now, Wormtail!", Bellatrix yelled and he took Harry by the collarbone, Greyback grabbed Ron who struggled and attempted to punch him. The young men were too tired to fight their release and Harry could only see the figure of the evil witch pointing her wand on Hermione's throat, "Hermione!". He felt asphyxiated, he couldn't struggle and he couldn't see where he was being taken, he could only listen to Hermione's screams.

* * *

They were being dragged down some stairs. At the bottom was a heavy door and Wormtail opened it with a key he'd pulled out from his pocket. Harry made an attempt to hit Wormtail but he failed and instead Greyback kicked him in the stomach and pushed him into the cellar along with Ron. Harry fell loudly to the concrete floor. Wormtail locked the door and returned with Greyback to the drawing room. A sudden sharp scream was heard and Harry's blood froze, it was Hermione.

"_How did you steal the sword out of my vault?_"

"_Please, I didn't do anything!_-"

"_Crucio!_"

"HERMIONE!", screamed Harry from the floor. He tried to stand up but he was unable, his hands still tied up behind his back. Ron didn't help him but he couldn't anyway for he was tied up too, he jumped towards the door and hit him with his body.

"Hermione!", shouted Ron with all his force desperately.

Harry could barely think. The loud screams of the girl filled up the entire place haunting him. They had to get out of there. But there seemed to be no way, if only there was someone there to help them.

"Ron?", they heard a voice whisper.

Ron turned around at the voice supporting his weight on the door. A blonde girl came out from the dept of the cellar staring at them. "Luna!", exclaimed Ron and he attempted to jump towards her. She got to him and hugged him briefly before noticing Harry on the floor, next to her.

"Harry! You're here too!"

Harry nodded and focused his sight on the blonde girl. He could now see her features clearly, the jinx's effect had worn out. Unlike most of the time, Luna was wearing perfectly normal clothes: a t-shirt and jeans, but they were dirty and ragged, evidence of the time she had probably spent locked in there, "Luna, can you help us release from these ropes?", Harry said showing her his tied wrists.

"Luna, come here", said Ron, "there's a wand in my pocket but I can't reach it. Take it, please". She did as he told her and took the wand out of the pocket of his pants.

"Told you the snatchers were stupid. This is the one I took from the snatcher who got killed. And I got your glasses too", Ron said to Harry before Luna broke his ropes with the wand. After she did, Ron put his arms around her while whispering, "I knew we were going to find you. I promised your dad we would".

"Oh Ron, you didn't need to do that", she answered, "I'm fine"

Luna broke the hug and knelt next to Harry, she released him and he stood up taking his glasses from her hand. Ron pulled the Deluminator out and used it to lighten up the room. Luna was not the only person already on the cellar, behind her Harry saw a goblin and the figure of an old tall man, Mr. Ollivander, the wandmaker. Before Harry could ask any question, steps were heard. Ron used the Deluminator again to remove the light. The door opened and Wormtail came in, "Goblin! Follow me!", he mumbled with his wand raised prepared to attack if the prisoners moved. Griphook, the goblin, followed him and they disappeared from sight.

On the main room,

After that, Hermione's screams could still be heard, "_Bombarda! Reducto! Incendio_", none of them worked no matter how much they tried. Harry was getting desperate, he couldn't take hearing her suffering any more. "Ahh!", he shouted loudly in despair.

A second later, Wormtail had returned, "Why are you making so much noise?", he asked. None of them answered, Harry waiting for his chance to attack.

But his plan was ruined when he heard another pair of steps walking down the stairs leading to the cellar, "Hey Wormtail", said the voice of Draco Malfoy, "my aunt is asking for you. If I were you, I'd go there immediately. You know perfectly how she gets"

Wormtail glared at Harry and turned around walking upstairs. However, before he could reach the top, he got hit by a stunning spell and fell down the stairs. The curious thing was that it hadn't been Harry who casted the spell, it had been Malfoy. He knelt next to Wormtail and rummaged between his clothes, Harry could only stare surprised. Finally, Malfoy found what he was looking for and opened the door of the cellar with the keys.

"Surprised, Potter? I figured as much", he said coldly, "Dobby!", he shouted.

The house elf appeared summoned by Draco, "I want you take Mr. Ollivander and the Lovegood girl to a safe place. Wherever Potter tells you to".

"Harry Potter, sir!", exclaimed Dobby happily, "and Mr. Weasley!". Harry smiled at the elf widely and turned to look at Malfoy mute by his actions.

Ron was as surprised as Harry but said to Dobby, "Take them to Shell Cottage, Bill and Fleur's home"

"Alright, do as Weasley said and then come back here. Be careful", Draco said.

Dobby nodded, "Dobby would do anything to help his friend Harry Potter", he grabbed Luna and Mr. Ollivander by the hands and disapparated with them.

A silence filled up the air after Dobby was gone, before Malfoy spoke again, "I told the goblin to lie about the authenticity of the sword. I reckoned it suited Granger's story just fine", he ran to the stairs, "Don't just stay there! Come on, we've got a mudblood to save"

Ron and Harry looked to each other dumbfounded but followed Draco up the stairs. Thrilled, Harry put a hand on Draco's shoulder and he turned around, "Why are you doing this?"

Draco grinned and folded his hands, "Have you not heard, Potter? The enemy of my enemy, is my friend", he answered, "take Wormtail's wand, you'll need it" he gave the wand to Harry and continued walking. His words sunk deep into Harry and he understood everything he had meant. Of all the people Harry thought could come to his aid, never would have Malfoy occurred to him; yet, after all they had lived, his more than frequent insults and fights, he was there, helping them.

"I'll go first and both of you will stay here. After that, you can pretend you've escaped or something and you'll be free to rescue Granger", Draco told them and acquired a serious almost threatening manner, "But I warn you, leave my mother out of this. She can't be harmed, understood?"

"We won't harm her if she doesn't try to get us first", answered Ron.

Draco glared at him, "I'm asking you nicely", he said coldly.

Ron was about to answer and Harry stopped him, "He's helping us, Ron", he said softly.

Ron snorted but said nothing. Malfoy continued walking until he disappeared from sight. They waited leaning against the wall of the passage leading to the cellar. "I don't trust him", said Ron suddenly, "what if it's a trap and he's setting us up?"

Harry sighed, "He's not", he answered softly.

"How do you know?", asked Ron, his tone getting louder.

"I just do", said Harry and turned to look at him, "if he was planning a set up, how come he lied when Bellatrix asked him if it was really me?", he put a hand on Ron's left shoulder, "it wouldn't hurt to trust for once"

Ron calmed at his words, "I may not trust him, but I trust your judgment, mate. This is for Hermione, anyway", he said holding his wand up.

"Yes, for her", seconded Harry.

"_You're lying goblin!"_

"_I already told you, the sword's fake. I've seen the original and it's not like this"_

"_Consider yourself lucky for now, goblin"_

"_Not like our little mudblood girl. She's not getting a nice treatment anymore"_

"Now!", shouted Harry.

Ron and Harry came out from the stairs throwing stunning spells. Before them, Bellatrix had Hermione lying on the floor with her arms wide open on her sides. Harry stopped on his tracks at the sight of her. There were some marks on her left forearm, like small cuts, and she was bleeding. Harry felt as if he had been stabbed, her face illuminated by the moon's rays looked so defenseless, like Harry had never seen her before.

"What-?", Lucius' Malfoy voice brought him back to his senses.

"_Stupefy!_", cried Ron. The elder Malfoy was shut backwards pushed by the force of Ron's spell.

Soon, Greyback and Narcissa were throwing spells at them. The room was lit constantly by the rebounding of jinxes and hexes on the walls. "_Sectumsempra!_", shouted Harry aiming at Greyback. The werewolf merely dodged it but its ray brushed him and he leant back on the wall grabbing his bleeding right shoulder.

"Stop!", they heard Bellatrix shouting. Harry turned at her: on the corner of the room, the witch had Hermione seized by the hair with her head lifted up. She was holding a silver knife against Hermione's throat, "Drop your wands or we'll see exactly how filthy her blood is!"

Harry froze, he couldn't breathe properly. Ron dropped the snatcher's wand instantly but Harry didn't react, he stood there watching her friend's life at risk. Bellatrix pressed the blade into her throat and beads of blood appeared there. At this, Harry dropped Wormtail's wand too. Hermione was sobbing with her eyes fixed upon the ceiling and Bellatrix started whispering in her ear, "Look, dear, what do we have here?", Hermione jumped slightly at the sound of her voice, "it's Harry Potter, he's come to rescue you… or so, he thought", she grinned, "he's all bright and new, ready for the Dark Lord".

"Take their wands, Draco", Bellatrix ordered Malfoy. He reluctantly did so and stood next to his mother. _Coward_, Harry thought.

Upon the wall of the windows, Greyback straightened up supporting himself on the pillar and began laughing hysterically, "Now you won't deny me the girl, will you, Bella?".

She turned to him, "Of course not. The Dark Lord will be satisfied with your services tonight". Hermione writhed beneath her and Bellatrix seized her tighter. Harry clenched his fits, unable to do something to defend her. He felt impotent and fearful as to what could happen to her. It had all being in vain.

Greyback laughed again and flicked his wand aiming at Ron, "_Incarcerous!_". Black ropes appeared from the floor and surrounded Ron's body holding him still. Ron cried in pain and struggled pointlessly.

"Call him, Draco", Bellatrix whispered softly, "Summon the Dark Lord for us".

Harry turned to the blonde and glared at him. Draco looked at Bellatrix scared, then at his mother and finally at Harry. They gazed at each other for seconds and Harry made an effort to show all his hate on his eyes. But Draco didn't move, he stood there looking at Harry as if he was waiting for him to save him from obeying his wicked aunt.

"Draco", called his mother and he turned to her. He shook his head and looked at his aunt, "No", he softly said.

"What did you say?", questioned Bellatrix.

"No", he repeated. Both women stared at the young man confused. He turned to Harry and without taking his eyes from his, said, "Dobby, now!"

The elf appeared behind Narcissa and snapped his fingers. The chandelier that was precisely above Bellatrix and Hermione, broke from the ceiling and the woman let go of Hermione throwing herself aside to avoid the crash. Harry reacted and caught Hermione, barely taking her away. A stunning sound was heard when the chandelier fell to the floor breaking up in pieces.

"Stupid elf!", Bellatrix shouted, "you could have killed me!"

"Dobby never meant to kill. Only maim or seriously injure", Dobby answered smiling triumphant. (**A/N: Thanks to MadamLestrange1990 and Namikaze-Naruto-the-Sage for the quote :D**)

"How dare you?", yelled the witch.

But her sister wasn't paying attention to the elf. She was staring at her son with her mouth opened, "What was the meaning of that?", she asked.

Draco looked at the elf and nodded, then turned to her mother, "I'm not going to do this, anymore"

"Do what?", his mother asked back confused.

"Help them", he motioned to Bellatrix and Greyback, "Don't you understand?", he asked desperately.

Narcissa shook her head violently and continued to look disturbed at her blonde son. Draco sighed and flipped his wand releasing Ron, "_Relashio!_", the black ropes around Ron disappeared and he straightened up.

"Draco, boy, let's calm down for a moment", called Bellatrix from her place next to the broken chandelier.

"Shut up!", he yelled pointing his wand at her.

Bellatrix stepped back afraid. "I do understand: The boy's a traitor. I knew he didn't have it in him since he failed to do Dumbledore", rasped Greyback.

"Don't you talk of my son like that ever again!", shouted Narcissa furiously.

Bellatrix moved elusively to grasp her knife, which had fell to the floor after the crash; but Draco was faster, "_Accio knife_!", he said summoning the blade and catching it.

"Stop, Draco! What are you doing?", cried his mother.

In all his life, Draco Malfoy had never shown a trace of bravery in him. Like most Slytherins, he praised shrewdness before courage. His father had taught him that those were the values that only the vulgar Gryffindors displayed; so he learned to look for himself before anything else. He had believed so for many years. One could say that Draco's life had been easy on his early years, he'd had everything: money, rank, an important position on society and an ability to earn worthy friends instantly. But deep inside him, the hatred he had grown towards Harry Potter was the result of nothing more than jealousy. Draco soon realized that rank and _purity_ were meaningless compared to the things that Potter had: respect, admiration and friendship. Potter's friends looked at him with high admiration, whereas Draco's only followed him for interest and even fear; it was nowhere near the friendship and loyalty he had seen on _his_ friends. Weasley and Granger had risked their lives for Potter's uncountable times and they kept by his side no matter what. In his case, Draco had only sensed that kind of devotion coming from his mother. And with the turn of the tide, he had realized that she was all that mattered to him in the world, his family was. So, Draco decided that it was time to show that he was no selfish arrogant boy, time to show that he cared for people. And he would do it despite the gigantic fear he felt.

He turned back and saw Potter and Weasley holding the brunette girl tightly now that she was seemingly safe. The red-haired lifted his face and saw him looking at them. Draco gestured at him and pulling Ron's real wand, Hermione's and Wormtail's out of his pocket, he threw them at Ron and he caught them. Dobby, the elf, was standing behind the three boys and he was looking at Draco with admiration, something Draco had never seen on anyone else's eyes directed at him. It gave him courage to turn to his mother.

"I'm doing what's right, mother", he said softly. His hands were trembling but he swallowed hard to calm himself and continued, "Do you not see? Even if we give Potter to him, he's going to kill us", he cried, "he'll never forgive us, mom", he motioned to Lucius laying unconsciously on the floor. "I don't want him to rule the world we live in, he'll destroy it", he took a deep breath, "For the first time, I want to be brave for what is worth". Tears were filling up his eyes and he let them fall without embarrassment.

Narcissa nodded in understanding, she was crying too. The moment broke when they heard Bellatrix and Greyback moving. Harry aimed at Bellatrix and stunned her before she could take out her wand. Ron threw a spell at Greyback but he dodged it by hiding behind a pillar. A second later, Greyback pulled out and flipped his wand.

"_Intereo!_", a purple ray was shot from his wand directed at a spot between Ron and Hermione. Harry saw as Draco ran and pushed both of his friends aside with force. The ray could have hit either Ron or Hermione but instead ended up hitting the blonde boy right on his chest.

Time slowed as the body of Draco Malfoy was pushed backwards. His arms were opened graciously and his grey eyes were fixed above, a spark coming out from them. Before his body touched the ground, Harry managed to hear a small "_Run_" coming out of his lips. His body finally fell and his eyes closed peacefully.

"Draco!", came the roar of his mother and she threw herself next to the body of her now dead son.

A light was seen and it hit Greyback. Harry felt the hand of Ron grasping him and his vision went blurred as he was being dragged through the darkness, he heard the desperate calls of Narcissa before the room disappeared replaced by the sight of sand and water. _Draco Malfoy was dead_.

Harry smelled the salty air and he moved his eyes around the place. He saw Luna, Mr. Ollivander and Griphook gathered together on a spot, a small figure was standing next to Ron and Harry ran towards them. Ron was holding Hermione against his chest. She was unable to stand and her weakness had brought her to the ground. Harry knelt beside her and Ron and he put a hand on her face, "Hermione, you're safe now", he whispered. She didn't answer but she looked at him for a moment before her eyes closed as she fainted.

* * *

_**Alright, how was it? :D**_

_**Some things to mention: the snatcher Duke is my own invention xD along with the name of two other snatchers. I was reading "I, Claudius" and I took the name of one of them from Claudius, the roman emperor, father: Drusus. The other one just occurred to me. Oh, if you can, you should read this book, it's brilliant how it's narrated and it really is quality material.**_

_**As you can see, I mixed both book and movie. There are some things that I liked from the movie more and other that I was forced to take from the book to make sense. But of course, I changed many things.**_

_**You will wonder why I decided to kill Malfoy. Actually, it's the first time I kill a character and it was quite difficult to decide it this way. But I wanted Dobby to live! Haha, nah, not the only reason... I wanted to give Draco a proper death and I felt the need to write it like that. I like his character and sometimes I think that Rowling's hate towards him influenced greatly on how he ended up. So, I made him braver. People can change, Dumbledore said so and I agree with him. Oh, and you'll probably wonder what I'm going to do with the whole Elder wand issue; we'll see when we get to that, no need to rush up (suggestions are well received btw).**_

_**The spell that Greyback used is the same that Dolohov casted on Hermione in the Department of Mysteries but since the name is never mentioned on the books, I made it up too. Intereo is a latin word that means "to perish", so I thought it was right for the spell, you'll judge if it is. **__**Took it from my Latin classes at school :) But I'm no expert so if it is wrong, please tell.**_

_**With nothing more to add, I want to wish all a Happy New Year and thank you for supporting me last 2010. May this year be full of joy, love and quality fanfiction! **_


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